The air in the greenhouse hung damp with the smell of rich earth. Seedlings hummed with life, stretching toward the afternoon sun that filtered through the panels overhead. At the Dudley Greenhouse in Roxbury, spring is in full swing.
Born from grassroots organizing efforts and managed by The Food Project since 2010, this 10,000-square-foot space serves as both a growing facility and a community hub. For residents of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, it offers more than just garden beds and seedlings — it provides access to a tradition deeply rooted in the neighborhood.
On a bright afternoon in mid-April, Danielle Andrews, the farm and greenhouse manager, stepped into the first gardening space of the greenhouse, a carabiner jingling at her side. “There’s so many people who want to grow food, and the actual core materials are not that expensive,” she said, while walking past an overflowing bag of soil on the ground. “But if you don’t have space or a truck to haul in the wood and the compost, it becomes really expensive.”
Originally from Toronto, Andrews has been in Boston working for the Food Project since 2000 and at the Dudley Greenhouse since its founding in 2010. Fans buzzed and the drip irrigation sputtered throughout the raised beds as she moved through the space.
“The greenhouse functions as a production space,” Andrews said, gesturing toward rows of flourishing greens that have been set aside for the annual seedling sale on May 10. Suspended above the raised beds were colorful painted signs labeling the sections: flowers, greens, broccoli and cabbage, cucumber and squash, and herbs.
The other main section of the greenhouse is designated for the production of tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers in bulk. The greenhouse harvests 15,000 to 20,000 pounds of tomatoes per year, Andrews said.
But production is only one aspect of the greenhouse’s mission. The space hosts thirty-two 4-by–8-foot plots that community groups can apply to use. An advisory committee of residents determines who gets access each year.
“There’s a lot of really serious gardeners in this neighborhood,” Andrews said, “people who cleaned up empty lots and started growing food in them. That culture was what pushed for a greenhouse in the neighborhood.”
Donald Henry, a retired carpenter who began as a grower in 2017, now volunteers at the greenhouse, sometimes five days a week. He said he immigrated to Boston from Jamaica over 50 years ago. After checking his garden bed, he returned beaming. “God is good. I look in my bed, and guess what’s growing nice? Callaloo.”
He explains that callaloo, another word for amaranth, is popular in Jamaica and pairs perfectly with swordfish. By midday, Henry had already built three garden beds, which he installed in community member’s plots across town. For elderly community members, he uses stones to create raised versions that require less bending.
Andrews said this program has installed over two-thousand 4-by-8 beds in people’s yards in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, focusing primarily on lower- and middle-income families.
“We are in a neighborhood with a lot of very talented and passionate growers,” Andrews said. “We just want to grow and support it. It’s really about supporting people’s food sovereignty efforts.”
Later in the afternoon, Andrews pulled out of the greenhouse garage in a silver pickup truck, bumping over potholes, windows down. She’s delivering another load of Walla Walla, leeks, shallots, and redwing onion seedlings to the Langdon Street Farms for youth volunteers to plant.
“This neighborhood has a lot of really longtime relationships – some familial, some just happy coincidences.” she said, peering out the window at a fenced-off garden on the corner. This “guerilla garden” was founded by a group of grandmothers on the block who cleaned it up 10 years earlier.
“People take care of each other,” she said. “And I think a lot of that has to do with the culture of gardening and growing food and sharing food across your fence with your neighbor.”
Back in the greenhouse, hanging precariously on irrigation pipes, three painted plywood signs capture this ethos: “Grow well. Eat well. Be well.”
Andrews notes that late July brings her favorite seasonal ritual — when residents grow shell beans throughout the neighborhood. “There’s just a lot of people moving around from garden to garden, harvesting together in community.”
This community-centered approach proves especially important as the area faces gentrification pressures, said Andrews. “As one of my friends says, as soon as you have nice things in the neighborhood, gentrification starts, unfortunately.”
Charlotte Reynolds, the assistant grower who will work at the greenhouse until the end of October, took a seat after a long afternoon of work. “Every single day has looked really different, which has been really cool and exciting,” she said. “I’m just excited to gain more understanding of this place and the people here.”
To Andrews, the greenhouse’s mission transcends the physical structures and the produce.
“It’s about providing answers and affordable supplies — bagged compost, organic fertilizers, row cover,” she said. “But more importantly, it’s about helping people reclaim their right to grow their own food in a neighborhood that has been doing exactly that for generations.”
Donald Henry, a volunteer at The Food Project’s Dudley Greenhouse, tends to one of the garden beds inside the 10,000-square-foot facility on a recent afternoon. Zenobia Pellissier Lloyd photo