TED Active attendees help Ron Finley “plant some s***.” Photo: Nick Weinberg

“You ain’t gangsta unless you have a garden,” says Ron Finley. In this special video for CNN, Finley shares more about the idea he posited at TED2013 for improving health in his neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles — planting edible gardens wherever a strip of land is available.

“What we do is literally put vegetable gardens in homes in South Central, free of charge,” says Finley. Ron Finley: A guerrilla gardener in South Central LA “We like front yards better than back yards because of the visibility front yards have. We want people to see the food.”

Last weekend, Finley held a full-out gardening party to plant a vegetable garden at The R Cloud House, an artist-in-residence house conspicuously located across from the L.A. Watts Towers. 20 TEDActive attendees attended the party, with friends in tow, working alongside Finley and volunteers from Heavy T’s Grow Show. Mud Baron from Muir Ranch donated soil, while Ray Cirino and Large Marge Sustainables provided food for volunteers. Together, the group planted corn, tomatos, strawberries, dill, thyme, basil, mint and swiss chard.

See tons of incredible photos shot during this planting party »

And read an essay Finley wrote for CNN »