Edgewater Food Forest at River Street
640 River St, Mattapan, MA 02126
Stewards planting a tree at the Edgewater Food Forest at River Street, July 2021.
About
Previously an empty field, this food forest was built in 2021-2022 by the Edgewater Neighborhood Association and its dedicated community. Efforts were supported by Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, Boston Food Forest Coalition, the City of Boston’s Grassroots Program, and Restoring Roots Cooperative. Today, it is a space for healthy food, fitness, learning, and community, and is maintained collectively by volunteer stewards as a part of the Boston Food Forest Coalition community land trust.
History
The Edgewater Neighborhood Association, in collaboration with their community, began the conversation of turning this vacant space into a community-run food forest several years before construction began. Stewards Vivien Morris, Jessie Dambreville, Hakim Reid, and others in the Edgewater Neighborhood Association dreamed up the idea of a food forest for their community. They brought the Boston Food Forest Coalition into the discussion by inviting Orion (BFFC’s Executive Director) to a neighborhood meeting to discuss the possibility of food forest with other neighbors involved in the space’s transformation. From there, the seed was planted and the evolution from empty lot to thriving food forest began.
The Edgewater Neighborhood Association spearheaded the beginnings of this project, partnering with the City of Boston, Mattapan Food and Fitness, and the Boston Food Forest Coalition along the way to bring the Edgewater Food Forest at River Street into being in 2021.
Read on for words from the stewards of the space.
As Told By Stewards…
How did your food forest come to be?
This space was empty for as long as we can remember. The whole process of turning the empty lot into a food forest has required a lot of neighborhood involvement: Surveys to ask people what they want to see - trees, benches, fences, etc. All of that was a community process! That’s been our favorite part of this food forest process. The whole experience has helped us get to know our neighbors that we didn’t know for the decades we’ve all been living here. It’s brought us together in a way that’s immeasurable.
What does joyful stewardship mean to your team?
Joyful stewardship is getting to know neighbors, and getting together to do whatever work we have to do. Stewardship, to us, comes down to community- and team-building. I’m glad that we’re in it together. This food forest journey has helped us learn what’s going on in our neighborhood, and we’ve all become more involved in other things in our community even outside of our food forest! As homeowners, it’s in our interest to stay connected, as we have a lot at stake as our neighborhood continues to change.
What has been the biggest accomplishment of your stewardship team thus far?
Our biggest accomplishment has just been getting to know each other. To think, some of us have been here for 30+ years and we didn’t know our neighbors. Getting to know each other, that’s an accomplishment. We used to not know each other, and now we’re speaking over the fence, standing outside chatting, meeting each other’s families - that is a huge accomplishment to us. And, we’re making plans for our collective future. Now THAT’S an accomplishment.
What is the biggest goal of your stewardship team right now?
One of our biggest goals is bringing the broader community together through the food forest. We’re really excited to have this place to bring people together for yoga classes, movie nights, game nights, and other events. For us direct abutters, it’s already built community for us. Our goal is to learn how we can help create that sense of community for the broader neighborhood and area, for people who live four or five blocks away who don’t know about the food forest yet. We really can’t wait to introduce people to this gem that’s right in the middle of their community.
We’re also excited to begin feeding our community healthy food! When all our trees are matured, our small team won’t be able to eat all that we’ll harvest. It’s so exciting to look forward to taking this mission to the broader community of Mattapan by sharing organic, clean fruits and nuts harvested from our space.
Steward Voices on the Progress at Edgewater
