There's a reason the Dearborn Community Garden in the Mission has a wait list of 18 years (or possibly longer). Since 1991 — when guerrilla gardeners converted a former PepsiCo parking lot into green space — dedicated community gardeners have nurtured the 45 plots like their own children. Depending on the time of year, Dearborn is replete with pumpkins, potatoes, beets, raspberries, tulips, and giant calla lilies. Friendly neighborhood tenders delight in telling stories about the garden to passing strangers, including the one about the couple who buried their children's placentas there.