Greening The Hood

■    South Central Los Angeles is more famous for drive-by shootings than well-kept gardens, but one native son is getting locals to trade their sawed-off shotguns for shovels. Ron Finley, who styles himself the “Gangsta Gardener” is encouraging Angelenos to cultivate vegetable and fruit gardens in vacant lots in deprived neighborhoods. He has co-founded a charity, L.A. Green Grounds, to get poor communities with few healthy food options to grow produce in the ‘hood. “Gardening is gangsta because you’re empowering yourself,” he said. “Growing your own food is like printing your own money.”