How urban farmers in Boston are changing their practices as warmer winters and erratic storms threaten their crops

GrowBoston established grants up to $100,000 in March for innovations in Boston-based food production.

By Cassandra Dumay
Boston Globe
May 4, 2023

Excerpt:

This year’s warm winter also left behind less melting snow, a key springtime water source for plants, Thiruvengadam said, so farmers will need to start watering their crops earlier.

But replacing natural precipitation is an expensive and time-consuming process, he said. In order to access the city water supply, urban farms need funds to construct piping. This was a financial hurdle for Eastie Farm, and one of its locations is still not connected to municipal water, Thiruvengadam said.

City traffic also can be an obstacle.

Urban farmers can receive permission to draw water from nearby fire hydrants, Thiruvengadam said. But that was a logistical challenge at one of Eastie Farm’s sites, because the closest hydrant was across a busy street.

Mayor Michelle Wu launched GrowBoston: the Office of Urban Agriculture in February 2022 to assist urban farmers with these technical challenges and improve citywide food access.

“The City of Boston has a long history of urban agriculture as well as food justice activism,” a city spokesperson wrote from the Mayor’s Office. “And we are continuing this tradition with increased investment of public resources.”

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