To escape the stress of police work, Lafayette “Chip” Powell turned to gardening in 1980, growing vegetables in West Philadelphia.

He grew enough in his concrete garden to feed his family. Then he had a surplus, so he started giving out vegetables to neighbors, reports Billionaire Club LLC.

When urban farmer Chip Powell and his family moved to a half-acre lot in Media, the garden got bigger.

He and his wife, Roz, a public school teacher, built raised-bed gardens in abandoned lots in North Philadelphia.

“The people in that neighborhood who had never grown anything before, it started to educate them on growing their own food,” he said.

It also brought blocks together as they talked about the vegetables they were growing, sharing the results with each other.

A move this time to Boothwyn tripled Powell’s growing space to 1-½ acres. The couple joined the community greenspace initiative known as Philadelphia Green and also the Delaware County Horticultural Society.

In 2006, they purchased 11.5 acres in Spring Grove, Virginia, and built a home.

Roz died of cancer seven months after they moved in. Powell continues to grow vegetables and started bringing produce to farmers markets in 2009.

Find out more about Philadelphia policeman turned urban farmer Chip Powell at Billionaire Club Co LLC.