November 14, 2014

Galvanized horse troughs are used to grow a wide array of vegetables on top of the Jonathan Club. (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times)

At the Jonathan Club downtown, not everyone took it well when an infrequently used paddle tennis court on a fifth-floor roof was sacrificed to gem lettuce, Swiss chard and microgreens.

Executive chef Jason McClain, of course, was thrilled. His father, a retired landscape architect, flew in from Alabama to build the garden, installing neat rows of galvanized horse troughs in which vegetables and herbs now grow. Read more