Photo: Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A group of Cambridge residents formed a collective several years ago to help people learn how to grow food at home.
The Cambridge City Growers was founded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. They wanted to tackle the issue of food shortages that began to crop up at that time.
According to the ‘About Us’ section on their website, the collective says that they “are a group of volunteers across Cambridge, Massachusetts (and beyond!) working to start up gardens in our neighborhoods to increase access to healthy, organic, and locally grown food.”
Co-founder of the Cambridge City Growers Sage Carbone talked about how seeing the effects of the pandemic on the neighborhood inspired much of their work.
“A lot of neighbors noticed that the planters and windowsill areas of the neighboring restaurants were going away,” Carbone said. “They were dying because there was nobody there to take care of the plants during the pandemic shutdowns.”
Read More: Hanson's Farm Kicks Off Month-Long Weekend Strawberry Festival
She also discussed how the Cambridge City Growers are self-proclaimed “gorilla gardeners” that provide “free planting supplies to anybody who needs them, and transforms underutilized spaces into food gardens.”
“As the pandemic moved along, it went to drop offs of planting supplies, online workshops to teach people how to create gardens in their homes,” Carbone said. “Those who had the knowledge, those who had the space, those who had the time…create a real garden space for community.”
Years after the heights of the pandemic, CCG continue to share their knowledge and skills with folks all over the city, creating projects in places like Kendall Square, the Cambridge Community Center, and the Margaret Fuller House, to name a few.
More information regarding the collective can be found on their website.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Carl Stevens (@CarlWBZ) reports.