Women and children picking berries on 161st Street in Gardena, 1900 3. What can you tell me about Gardenas agriculture?
Gardena was dubbed “Berryland” for its acres of strawberries as well as raspberries and blackberries grown year-round a century ago. The community owes its early reputation as a farming community to the Dominguez Slough, whose waters made Gardena an oasis amid an otherwise barren landscape. Among the crops grown there besides berries were tomatoes, alfalfa, and barley. More information about Gardena’s agriculture can be found in the following sources: Real estate advertisement concerning Gardena property and printed in the ‘Gardena Reporter.
