Hot Mess Express Mom
- Aug 8, 2019
- 3 min read

Fenway Farms - The Urban Rooftop Garden That Will Knock Your Sox Off!

I recently had the honor to attend a 5 year anniversary celebration of Fenway Farms, an urban rooftop garden, at Fenway Park - home of the Boston Red Sox.

Fenway Park is one of the oldest ballparks in America. It is now also one of the most sustainable, and that is because of a 5,000 sq ft roof top garden named Fenway Farms.

Fenway Farms came to life from a vision Linda Henry; Fenway Sports Group Partner and Red Sox Foundation Board Member, had for the unused space atop Fenway Park. Introduced on opening day in 2015, the 5,000 sq ft rooftop farm, maintained by Green City Growers, provides fresh organically grown vegetables and fruit to Red Sox fans dining at Fenway Park's Dell/EMC Club restaurant along with concessions throughout the park.

To date Fenway Farms has grown 21,000lbs of produce since inception.

Annually, Fenway Farm grows over 6,000 lbs of produce and donates 650lbs to families in need via the non-profit Lovin' Spoonfulls. Nothing goes to waste, this is truly skyline sustainability on top of one of America's most beloved ballparks!

The simplicity of this garden's structure is remarkable. The garden is grown in milk crates lined with landscaping cloth.

Touring the farm was an overwhelming experience, I mean think about it, a farm on top of Fenway Park... that statement alone is hard to envision as a reality. While there, I did not know where to look next...the city skyline view, portions of the ballpark or the garden itself. Taking it all in was just incredible.

The impact that Fenway Farms has on children touring the ballpark is profound. It is inspiring to children who live in the city that may not have a yard or the space for a garden. It shows them they really can create an urban garden just about anywhere.

There is even a beehive from Boston based company, The Best Bees, who are responsible for delivering, installing, and managing beehives to urban rooftop gardens nationwide. How unBEElievable is that?!

Attendees at the event included Linda Henry, Fenway Sports Group Partner and Red Sox Foundation Board Member; Sam Kennedy, President and CEO, Boston Red Sox; Jenny Johnson, Host of NESN’s Dining Playbook; Ron Abell, Executive Chef, Aramark; John Mulcahy, Executive Sous Chef, Aramark; and Jessie Banhazle, CEO of Green City Growers. They collectively discussed Fenway Farms and the impact it has not only on the ballpark but also the City of Boston!

Pictured above from Left to Right: Sam Kennedy, Ron Abell, Linda Henry, and Jenny Johnson.

Myself and Mr. Kennedy.

Mrs. Henry, NESN and Channel 7 News.

The 5 year anniversary celebration was emceed by NESN’s Dining Playbook host Jenny Johnson and featured farm-inspired fare and a recipe demonstration by Aramark Executive Chef Ron Abell. Mr. Abell used vegetables harvested real time during his cooking demonstration. Mrs. Henry mentioned that her and Mrs. Johnson like using the term "Farm to Face". It really doesn't get more Farm to Face than this.