Fenway Victory Gardens
Hail to the chief - of the Fenway Garden Society
By adamg - 12/5/10 - 12:57 pmMike Mennonno reports he was elected president of the group that oversees the Fenway Victory Gardens yesterday, after his rival for the position withdrew at the last minute when he realized he'd been too mean during the campaign. One of Mennonno's first acts: Setting up an official Tumblr site.
Presidential campaign gets ugly quick
By adamg - 11/18/10 - 7:41 amFor president of the Fenway Garden Society, that is.
Mike Mennonno, running for the volunteer position, posts a copy of the e-mail his opponent sent out to members, which darkly warns the society will be destroyed and the Fenway Victory Gardens overrun by out-of-town gay thugs taking advantage of the free needles and condoms he charges Mennonno wants to distribute in the gardens:
The whole problem comes from out of town and can be handled in short order. with a shift in administrations the forces that will set a course to harm or destroy us will be in your hands.
For his part, Mennonno basically goes "WTF?" since he's running on a campaign of improving fundraising and community outreach and says he's never proposed condom/needle handouts. Further thoughts from Mennonno.
He releases his platform for his bid for president - of the Fenway Garden Society
By adamg - 11/7/10 - 5:36 pmMike Mennonno explains why he's running for president of the non-profit group that runs the Fenway Victory Gardens:
[I]t doesn't take long for derelict gardens to become favorites of overnight partiers, intravenous drug users, or squatters. Broken windows. And just like in neighborhoods with blight, it tends to spread. We find it harder to recruit and retain gardeners when the plots adjacent to theirs have become public toilets.
So we have a chronic health and safety issue on our hands that requires real organization and coordination among our entire membership to effectively address.
What you can do with a tiny plot of land
By adamg - 8/30/10 - 8:28 amMike Mennonno shows off his plot in the Fenway Victory Gardens.
Break-in at the Victory Gardens
By adamg - 8/1/10 - 10:28 amMike Mennonno surveys the damage after some partiers decided the entire rest of the Fens was just too boring and so decided to use the Victory Gardens for some after-hours action early Saturday.
The Fenway Victory Gardener and his flowers
By adamg - 5/30/10 - 3:45 pmMike Mennonno shows us how his garden grows.
Diary of a community gardener
By adamg - 5/9/10 - 7:27 amFred is chronicling his efforts to grow vegetables in the Fenway Victory Gardens:
... I am extremely ecstatic to report numerous Beet and Mesclun mix seedlings emerging from the ground a mere 6 days after planting! I looked very carefully in the rows next to the Mesclun for Spinach and Romaine seedlings and believe I saw a few, however the Mesclun mix and Beet seedlings were easily visible in abundance so I will only confirm those for now. No visible seedlings from the Onions, Carrots or Cabbage yet but I will be back Sunday afternoon and hope to find more signs of life. ...
Via fellow Victory Gardener Mike Mennonno.
Fens on fire again tonight - but not as dramatically
By adamg - 4/24/10 - 9:52 pmTbobtubb tweets a fire by the Fenway Victory Gardens around 10:30 p.m. was big enough to shut down Boylston between Charlesgate and Park Drive just as the Sox game was getting out - but nothing like the April 5 blaze.
The flasher of the Fens is back
By adamg - 4/10/10 - 9:22 pmMike Mennonno reports that, in addition to the unfurling fern fronds, the guy who likes to show off his junk is back at the Victory Gardens.
Tim, the President of the garden society, says he's an older guy, been doing it for years.
"Yeah," he shuddered. "And sometimes he wears a thong."
Special bonus: 911 dispatchers refuse to send any cops over when people use the special city batphone with the blue strobe to complain about the guy because they insist on a street address, but nobody can give one to them because this city-installed phone is, you know, in the middle of the Fens.
Fire in the Fens
By fenwayguy - 4/5/10 - 5:51 pm>
Fenway fire: Copyright Jeff Tamagini. More photos.
A large reeds-fed fire is raging in the Victory Gardens section of the Fens. Nothing of real value (real estate-wise) is in danger, as the area is limited by the Muddy River and the main path. The TV stations have started arriving.
William Fleurant reports embers reached I-93 in the Lechmere area.
