Urban Gardening

Today, my thoughts are turning towards urban gardening. The thoughts were ignited while reading Kingston Heath's Patina of Place. In his discussion of William Elliot Burrows, who planned the workers housing, The Oaks, for The Willimantic Linen Company in Willimantic, Connecticut {shout out to where I lived last year!}, he mentions that Burrows kept a tight ship on the inhabitants of his dwellings. This even went so far as to mandate that each worker keep a garden at his home.

The following text is taken from Patina of Place on page 106: "...had garden inspectors under the guise of a garden club to ensure that gardens were properly tended. Barrows gave awards for the best gardens and had a gardener supply each home with cuttings. In essence, gardens in industrial settings were believed to rectify the image of industrial towns, to promote health and social interaction, and - as an alternate to owning a house and lot - to ally management and labor in the responsibility of 'village improvement'."

While searching for any inclinations towards present urban gardening activities in New Bedford I came across a few websites, some more relevant than others.

1. An article from Yankee Magazine entitled: Green Giant: Once there was no more famous horticulturist than Allen C. Haskell. His family continues his legacy by Lisa Palmer {October 2006} introduced me to the Allen C. Haskell Horticulturists, Inc. This was founded in 1953 by the late Allen C. Haskell {1935-2004}, a celebrity in the American Horticultural Society circles. The company has a 6-acre garden center located on Shawmut Ave in New Bedford, as well as a 50-acre farm. The above article states that: "The nursery, which draws plant lovers from all over the world, includes the city’s oldest house, a Colonial structure dating back to 1725." So, here, we have a local business, urban gardening, & adaptive reuse of a historic structure - awesome! Not only is this company a favorite of local gardeners, but Jackie O, Martha Stewart, & Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands are/were also fans! The company is now run by, David Haskell, Allen's son. Click the link above to visit their website.
2. Sustainable South Coast: Network for ecological and economic sustainability on the South Coast of Massachusetts. The blog listed a few city gardening/greening campaigns & meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of each month to discuss upcoming events. However. it seems the website is out of date: not having been updated since June 4, 2009. If anyone has updated information on this seemingly interesting group, please leave a comment! However, the website lists another group called New Bedford Green/Verde. The website discusses the creation of an ecogarden at Wings Court. The following was taken from the above website:

"Wings Court is the largest green space in downtown New Bedford. The Wings Court EcoGarden presents a green revisioning of Wings Court to welcome children, families and dogs into a truly green environment that demonstrates principles of toxic reduction, stormwater use, natural cooling, and solar electric generation.

The EcoGarden will feature:

• Plots of plants grown for their ability to remove lead and other contaminants from the soil; this method is called "phytoremediation"
• An artistic bathtub-enclosed wetland will demonstrate active phytoremediation and denitrification modalities.
• Demonstration of a full repertoire of low-impact development techniques for treating and reducing stormwater ecologically, including raingardens, porous pavement and depaving
  These modalities are under consideration for the CityÕs CSO reduction plan.
• A no-mow landscape

A portside location, such as Tonneson Park, will also be explored for an extension of this project. As an attractive pocket park, Wings Court gardens will provide an educational playspace for future earth stewards to experience and learn in a natural open environment tucked into the heart of the city. Additionally, this garden space will offera balance to the interior global learning space provided by the Explorium on Union Street.

Wings Court is also the future planned connector of the pedestrian pathway from the Acushnet River waterfront, the National Park and on to Buttonwood Park. The creation of this eco-network will improve the inner-city experience for all ages, Stormwater diversion is relevant to the CityÕs planned stormwater drain disconnection."

I had no idea any of this was going on in New Bedford! How wonderful! If anyone involved in the project or aware of its existence has any information on its progress, please leave a comment I would love to know more!

3. The Rotch-Jones-Duff House, located on County Street in New Bedford, is a Greek Revival mansion. The land it sits on was acquired by William Rotch Jr. through his father, William Rotch Sr., in 1831 & the house itself was completed in 1834. According to the website: "The house is interpreted through historic furnishings and materials representative of three consecutive periods of the home’s occupancy—the Rotch family beginning in 1834, the Jones family beginning in 1851, and the Duff family beginning in 1935." While all this history & architecture & preservation is all terribly interesting, house museums are not really my forte {or my interest}. The Gardens of the house is what I found interesting, not necessarily in their historic interpretation of them, but in how they are used presently to benefit the community. The museum, at present, offers 3 programs for students in fourth & fifth grades, for free. The program for fourth graders, the Woodland Garden Program, is organized by the Garden Club of Buzzards Bay. This program focuses on flowers, their habitat, germination process, & other related issues. The program offered for fifth graders, the Apiary Program, discusses the important role honeybees play in gardening.

4. This website, unrelated to New Bedford, has been saved in my bookmarks for a few months now. Goode Green: Green Roof Design & Installation is a company out of New York. It has always been an intriguing idea for me, urban gardening & green roofs, but looking at the pictures on their website, particularly of the more industrial areas {before & after shots are available for some of the spaces}, poses an interesting idea for New Bedford. While urban gardening in of itself might not have any direct connections to tourism, it could possibly be a way to bring people into a downtown area or to other parts of the city depending on where the garden plots were made available. Remember, however, that I am focusing on local tourism & endeavors such as those listed above could have an effect of rekindling interest in one's own city. Related to tourism or not, it is sustainable & a great way to counteract certain negative aspects of an industrial past. Pictures below taken from Good Green's website:

Excerpt from Moby Dick by Herman Melville: "... nowhere in all America will you find more patrician-like houses; parks and gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford... all these brave houses and flowery gardens... "