That changed once she began caring for the orange groves that surrounded her home on Sixth Street, between Kenmore and Charmore avenues. 

"I came from the city," she recalled. "I never worked a sprinkler." 

Hartston lived on the fourth floor of a high-rise in the Bronx until heading West with her physician husband Daniel, who had secured a job at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana. 

"I would go to the park if I wanted to see grass," she said. "Coming here was a totally new experience." 

But for more than 20 years, Hartston has tended 32 orange trees, three peach trees, one grapefruit tree, a loquat tree, a pomegranate tree and a "humongous" avocado tree. 

"This road," she said, pointing to Kenmore Avenue, "is usually green because so many of the avocados fall off, and cars run over them. I can't harvest them fast enough." 

Hartston, 64, says her one-acre grove is the largest of three remaining groves in Ontario, where citrus groves and vineyards once dominated the landscape. 

"This is all that remains of the original grove," she said, referring to property once owned by longtime Ontario nursery owner John S. Armstrong. "He cleared a spot to build this house and then slowly sold off pieces of the grove for other people to build their houses." 

The Hartstons bought their home from Armstrong's son, Aubrey, in 1971. 

"Part of the agreement was that I keep up the roses and citrus groves," she said. 

For five years, the Hartstons relied on an Armstrong nursery worker to maintain the groves. When he died, Hartston took it upon herself to care for the trees. 

"It was all on my own shoulders," she said. 

Her husband, a pediatrician, died in 1990. 

"He enjoyed the groves, but he didn't have time to work them," she said. "He liked the jungle atmosphere, nothing too finely groomed." 

At least once every month, Hartston irrigates her orchard for two days straight. Weir boxes, which divert the direction of irrigation, supply the water, but Hartston is responsible for regulating the flow. 

"I have to rake the ditches to make surethe water flows evenly by gravity," she said. "My job is to see that there is no debris, leaves or pebbles that will stop the flow of the water in the ditches." 

At 12-hour intervals, she must redirect the flow by shoveling dirt into dam-like piles. 

Hartston also spends between five and six hours a week fertilizing and maintaining the groves. 

"I have a lot of raking and shoveling to do," she said. "Now that I have arthritis, I can't bend and twist like I used to." 

Come harvest time - January to April for the oranges - Hartston prunes her orchards with a pole-like citrus picker. 

"I'm harvesting something almost every month," she said. 

Once the fruit is harvested, she gives it away to friends and neighbors. 

Among those who enjoy the fruits of her labor are Tom and Mildred Foley, who live across the street. 

"During the winter months my husband usually fills a bag or two," Mildred said. "(Gloria) is a very generous person and a wonderful neighbor." 

Hartston's only request is that the people who pick their own fruit give her half of what they take. She in turn gives her take away to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana and Riverside County Regional Medical Center. 

"The people I give it to seem to really, really appreciate it," she said. "It's special to give." 

Hartston regularly drops off oranges to senior citizens at nearby Temple Sholom of Ontario. 

"Whenever she brings (the fruit), we dish it out, and the people really enjoy it," said Fran Tearl, who is in charge of the temple's senior center. "The seniors know her when they see her. She comes and says hi to everybody." 

Harvesting oranges isn't Hartston's only interest. 

The mother of four, she is a licensed amateur radio operator. She also teaches pediatric nursing at Riverside Community College and has written three textbooks on the subject. 

Her groves, however, always will have a special place in her heart. 

"It's tranquil," she said. "I don't feel like I'm in the midst of a busy, bustling city. It's raw nature."