What’s In Medford? Loving Community And Self Through Service

MEDFORD, MA – The following letter was submitted by Jolene Singh, an adjunct in Organic Chemistry at Suffolk University from 2013-2017. She is currently a student at Columbia University's School of General Studies.

I currently live in New York City. I spent more than a decade living in Boston and Cambridge, MA studying and working at well-known institutions. Yet, when New Yorkers ask me about Massachusetts, I enjoy telling them about Medford, a town they have either never heard of or vaguely associate with Tufts University.

I only lived in Medford for a couple years. But I miss growing vegetables for the Community Cupboard Food Pantry, which Co-Coordinator Liz Ammons confirms “typically serve[s] 70-90 clients each week.” I also miss the eclectic group of garden volunteers helmed by Joan Parker and Susan Hammond. Certified Master Gardeners, yes. But I prefer their unofficial monikers: Our Fearless Leader and The Vegetable Queen.

Joan Parker, Our Fearless Leader, had the dream--believing that she could grow fresh tomatoes and vegetables to supplement the canned goods, cereals, and processed foods that get given away at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 147 High Street, on Thursdays year-round from 6-7:30pm. To bring her vision to fruition, Parker and her team of Master Gardeners got permission to grow vegetables on church grounds, supplying the up-keep and working with the congregation on outreach, teaching children about plants and growing.

But routine soil tests showed that the church soil was no good - not only was the soil poor in nutrients - some spots had alarmingly high lead concentrations. In the mid-90s, Joan Parker co-authored an expose on occupational lead poisoning caused by the Bay State Smelting Company of Somerville and before that she contributed to a review article on the dangers of child lead poisoning. Aware of these risks, the Master Gardeners secured a grant to purchase the lumber, soil, and other materials needed to remediate the garden site. The building project commenced in 2016, when I stopped by to volunteer for a couple hours. At least, the plan was to volunteer once. The truth is I got hooked into the project on the very first day.

Susan Hammond, The Vegetable Queen, learned to garden at a very young age from her English father. Everything I know about succession planting, interplanting, and crop rotation, I learned from Hammond. Her knowledge is encyclopedic and her love for gardening is infectious. If you don’t want to get sucked in to gardening as a hobby or a vocation, avoid her.

If you don’t believe me, ask my students. It’s surprising that students who have already graduated from college will come out to do physical labor with their organic chemistry teacher in the blazing hot sun in June on a Saturday -- without pay. But several of my chemistry students did just that while working at other summer jobs and internships. And they kept coming back to Medford -- of their own accord.

I ask myself why.

It wasn’t to work with me, but to work with this community on a project that the students had come to love -- because it fed their curiosity and knowing that their labors were supplying a food pantry with fresh, wholesome food every week was gratifying too.

Parker, Hammond, and a few volunteers have expanded their work in the Medford community every year - they have built up the vegetable beds at the Episcopal church across the street from the food pantry. Their educational mission extends into the Winthrop Street Community Garden, near Veterans Memorial Park. They have even intervened in an unsafe exterior deleading project that would have exposed children and parents traveling to the nearby elementary school and public library to harmful lead dust.

Though winter is fast approaching, the work does not end for the small crew in Medford. They are reflecting on last year’s successes and failures. They are dreaming up new projects - fruit trees! They are growing seedlings in basements and taking on new experiments - trying to get a head-start on crops that just would not make it in the short New England growing season, where it can snow in April.

I love these people and what they are doing. If you are interested in gardening or community service or you are just curious, I invite you to find Joan Parker or Susan Hammond, to see for yourself whether you might love them too.

The following letter was submitted by a reader and does not necessarily reflect the views of Patch.