The Commission was established to organize, coordinate, set policies and provide oversight for new community gardens in Medford. It is made up of six members and two alternates. Current members are listed below
Current members:
Elise Boerjes
Elizabeth White
Mark Lalli
Tara Mitchell
Linda Arini
Meetings are held monthly on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 7-8:30PM.
Commission History
A new garden is constructed at Tempone Apartments, a Medford Housing Authority facility, four tall raised beds for a senior living facility.
An additional 10 beds and a surrounding fence were added to the La Prise garden, extending the gardening facilities there.
A new garden is constructed at La Prise Village, a Medford Housing Authority facility, with ten garden beds for the residents.
Four raised beds were added to the McNally garden, raising the garden spots there to eight. A fence was added to enclose the space as well.
Grant funds were used to rebuild the garden beds at the Andrews School, with the intention of creating a partnership between the Commission and the school.
A garden considered for Carr Park was rejected in the public review process.
Harris Park grant funds were diverted to rebuild the garden beds at the Andrews School, with the intention of creating a partnership between the Commission and the school.
A garden planned for Harris Park was rejected by neighbors.
At Walkling Court, a Medford Housing Authority facility, a garden of ten beds, including one easy-access bed was built for the use of residents.
Improvements to the Willis Avenue garden facilities allowed for 20 garden beds to be made available in two locations.
Gardens were proposed but ultimately rejected for Barry and Morrison Parks.
A new garden was constructed in Tufts Park to provide South Medford residents with growing space; there are now 24 plots available, including 2 dedicated to the teaching program of the Curtis-Tufts School.
The garden group was asked to become involved in planning additional gardens at the Willis Avenue development, managed by the Medford Housing Authority. Members of our group have coordinated with MHA staff to plan programming for children attending summer programs at the Community Center and advocated for more beds to be built there. There are currently 8 plots for residents as well as 8 plots for Community Center use.
Additional plots were added to the Winthrop Community Garden, including two educational beds, for a total of 38 available plots in the Garden.
The City appointed a Commission to oversee future garden development and ensure equitable practices throughout Medford.
As a result of development efforts and with the permission of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Winthrop Community Garden opened in 2015 with about 24 plots.
McNally Playground was renovated, and four garden plots were installed.
A nonprofit Friends group was founded to coordinate fundraising for the gardens.
The environmentally-focused group Green Medford decided to make community gardening a priority in the City and in partnership with members of the Medford Garden Club began to meet to plan an initiative to build more gardens. At the same time, Medford drafted a new open space plan that mandated the addition of garden plots to parks as they were renovated.
With support from Tufts University and land made available in a new park, Riverbend Community Garden was built near the new Andrews Middle School. The 32 plots were immediately taken, and a long waiting list developed.