Harsh Boston winters hinder year-round consumption of homegrown produce
By Caylan Davis
12/10/10
The
Slow Food movement advocates purchasing locally grown food because it's
fresher, better for the environment and supports the local farmers who produce
it. A growing number of people in Boston have embraced eating locally to the
extent that they've become farmers themselves, something that can be a
challenge in the New England winter.
Betsy
Johnson, board member and treasurer of the American Community Gardening
Association, said the vast predominance of community gardens throughout the
country are for growing food and their presence is rising.
"The
creation of gardens and their continued existence is exploding," she said.
Boston
is no different. Community gardens are thriving and more popular than ever.
"People
are paying attention to nutrition and eating healthier...and people are paying
attention to the carbon footprint in terms of buying food from elsewhere. It
seems like something that everybody has a reason to do," Karen Chaffee, urban
wilds/stewardship manager of Boston Natural Areas Network, said.
The
food that's grown in community gardens can often serve as the main source of
produce for some people, Chaffee said.
In
the winter, however, gardening becomes much more difficult. The cold
temperatures and the lack of light provide poor growing conditions.
Johnson
said some community gardens can preserve their produce for the winter but many
community gardeners have no choice but to get their vegetables from traditional
sources during that time.
Willow
Blish, a leader of Slow Food Boston, grows produce in a rooftop garden. She
stocks up for the winter by freezing extra summer fruits and vegetables, so she
and her family can enjoy them long after the harvest season is over.
But
some gardeners don't have the time, space or ability to can or freeze summer
and fall produce for out-of-season enjoyment.
Green
City Growers installs, maintains and harvests year-round gardens for homes and
businesses in Massachusetts.
To
operate year-round, their gardens require a cold frame that functions as a
mini-greenhouse on top of the garden bed that keeps it up to 40 degrees warmer
than the air outside. Cold frames cost $350 per every 4-foot by 4-foot area.
"These
cold frames protect against the nighttime below-zero temperatures, and allow us
to grow crops such as spinach, kale, all kinds of lettuce and braising greens,
and carrots deep into the winter," Benjamin Bois, director of horticultural
operations at Green City Growers, said. "Essentially, the plants will continue
to grow until the beginning of January, when there is really not enough light."
The
cold frames are in high demand, Jessie Banhazl, owner of Green City Growers,
said because "the growing season is a lot shorter than other areas in the
country and the cold frames at least definitely let you extend the growing
season for a month on either end."
While
the cold frames help to extend the growing season, the winter months are still
a huge challenge.
"In
terms of growing enough that you could be eating from your garden during
January and February, probably not," Banhazl said, "but you can definitely
harvest and continue eating from your garden through December and then starting
again in March."
For
those who can't afford to pay professionals, it's possible to start a garden
without any help. "It's not too hard and it's really rewarding," Banhazl said.
Ali
Carter, a Boston University student and Slow Food enthusiast, decided to try to
grow her own food last spring. She planted tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and
peppers in containers on a window's sill in her room.
The
plants outgrew their pots and were transplanted to BU's Organic Gardening
Collective where she continued to care for them.
"The
most challenging part of it was putting in the time to water, weed and care for
the plants," Carter said.
As
a new gardener, Carter often made mistakes. "It can be discouraging when one of
your plants dies or isn't doing well," she said, "but you try to learn what
caused that consequence and fix it."
Not
able to continue growing her own plants in the winter, Carter tries instead to
buy her produce from local farms and some farmers markets that continue to
operate in the cold season.
Like
Carter, Megan Johnson also has grown vegetables for the past three years in a
tight space: on her apartment's fire escape in Beacon Hill.
A
passionate proponent of local food, Johnson said growing her own vegetables is
not only healthier, but it personalizes the eating experience.
"I
really like knowing when, even if it's a few cherry tomatoes, I like knowing
that I grew this in an apartment building on the fire escape," Johnson said.
Johnson
said she grows a variety of vegetables at home and frequents farmers markets as
often as she can.
"I
feel like it's important for people to learn how to, I don't want to say live
off the earth, but to stop buying so much crap," she said.
However,
during the winter months, the inclement weather prevents Johnson from being
able to maintain her garden. And like many other gardeners in Boston, she's
forced to rely on store-bought produce.
"I
know some people can do it," Johnson said of gardening in winter, but because
of the added hassle, she said, "there's no way I'd be able to."
Media Credit: Green City Growers and Megan Johnson
1 Comments
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The rule of the game was never assume that anybody, however honorable, would be able to stand up under torture. If Mr. X, who knew where I was, was caught for some reason, I should move.