By all accounts, the recent Laguna Woods Garden Centers Club Farmers Market was a huge success.

“We were so busy, we couldn’t even take time to breathe,” said Pam Murray, president of the club.

The line formed out the door long before the 9 a.m. opening time, she said, so the market opened 15 minutes early.

And by 10:30, most of the produce was gone.

Cucumbers, squash, greens. Kale, zucchini, green beans. Tomatoes of all kinds, from cherry to heirloom, even green ones (“for fried green tomatoes,” Murray said).

Eggplant, celery, onions. Asian greens and squashes. Bitter melons, passion fruit. Luffa – to eat and to make sponges, she said. Even New Zealand spinach.

And the plants – succulents, small potted trees. Herbs – basil, thyme, mint and much more.

“Lots of people donated their produce, gardeners from both Garden Center 1 and 2,” said Murray, who has had a plot herself for five years.

Anyone up for trying some dragon fruit, juicy Asian plums or other exotic delicacy? As the Village population has become more diverse, so have the garden plots.

“A lot of gardeners grow produce that they can’t find in grocery stores,” said Sue Margolis, past president of the Garden Centers Club, who has maintained a garden plot for 20 years.

The Village has two garden centers. Garden Center 1 has 172 garden plots, 132 fruit tree plots and three equipment sheds. Garden Center 2 has 596 garden plots, 118 fruit tree plots, a shade house for plants like orchids and four equipment sheds.

On a recent morning, Don Joynt, a seven-year gardener at Garden Center 1, showed off mouth-watering tomatoes that were headed to the market.

“Tomatoes sell very well,” Joynt said.

Linda Weiner has enjoyed her plot for two years.

“There’s something about getting your hands into the dirt — instant gratification,” she said.

Weiner grows herbs and spinach now and cucumbers in the winter.

“Mother Earth provides, and everyone here has a different vision and creativity,” she said. “Best, the veggies don’t talk back.”

Barbette Curran, who has had her garden and fruit tree plots since 2012, grows flowers, with an eye on attracting pollinators such as bees, along with veggies and, rare for this region, blueberries.

“I put in raised beds, dug trenches and put up new fencing,” she said.

Curran is proud of her new composter, which she said reuses a lot of plant debris and thus more than justifies the expense.

Josephine Oberstein specializes in flower arrangements. They too would be be sold at the market.

Robert Shapiro prefers organic food and gardening and enjoys that gardeners share both produce and plants.

“Everybody shares everything. We exchange massive amounts of kale,” he said.

That sharing includes, less voluntarily, sustenance for critters like rabbits, rats, mice, squirrels and gophers. “Rabbits like to come in the evenings. Recently I had a mom and her two babies in my garden,” Shapiro recalled.

Other gardeners delight in the waterfowl that the nearby water reservoir attracts. “We’ve turtles, ducks and even pelicans,” Margolis said.

Garden Center 2 tends toward ornamental plants and gardeners who grow veggies for their own consumption. Marie Fitzgerald waited for her plot for more than four years and now grows cucumbers and tomatoes.

“We refurbished this plot as a group of four,” she said. With a laugh and a nod to her Irish heritage, she said, “I grew 70 pounds of potatoes this year.”

The garden plots are rented on a first come, first served basis and have a sizable waiting list. All plots rent for $57 per year each and, according to the rules, it’s one garden plot and one tree plot per manor. (Though several residents have more than one lot grandfathered in.)

Margolis said the community is there for any gardener who might need help with the latter:

“There was a lady here .. (who) had a severe accident that prevented her from bending her back. We helped her with her garden and now she’s recovering quickly,” she said.

As for the market, it brought in a bucket of money: $1,744, Murray said. That will go to the Meals on Wheels program at Florence Sylvester Senior Center. (In years past, proceeds went to the Orange County Food Bank.)

“I think we need to help the people in Laguna Woods,” Murray said. “I think there’s too many people in need right now.”

The next Village farmers market won’t come until next year, she said — probably early July for the best produce.

For information on the Garden Centers:

Garden Center 1: 23742 Moulton Pkwy. Phone: 949-268-2387

Garden Center 2: 23102 Via Campo Verde. Phone: 949-268-2387

Hours: Daily, sunup to sundown.

Gate pass codes or card stickers required for entry.

For information on the Garden Centers Club:

Contact Pam Murray, president, at 949-235-7825 or [email protected]. Or email Elizabeth Roper at [email protected].