Boston gardening initiative to offer free tomato plants to urban growers

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Gardeners will have reason to celebrate when the city welcomes growing season and the coming start of summer.

The Boston Parks and Recreation Department is set to give away 2,012 tomato plants grown by Mahoney’s Garden Center to encourage more residents to become urban gardeners.

“We are thrilled to support Mayor Menino and the City of Boston’s green efforts
by giving away these special TOM-ato plants,” James Hohmann, general manager of
Mahoney’s Brighton, said in a statement about the plants named after Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Hoshmann will help give away the tomato plants on Saturday, May 12, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Fenway Victory Gardens in the Back Bay Fens where the city will host a slew of family activities and giveaways as part of its Boston Blooms program, an initiative launched last year to beautify neighborhoods.

During the tomato giveaway, gardeners will be able to tour the Fenway Victory Gardens, now in its 70th year, while beekeepers will be able to watch a presentation by bee expert Nancy Mangion of Beekeepers’ Warehouse.

Artistic gardeners will also have the chance to make their own flower pots, create botanical sculptures, and draw and sketch plants with the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Artward Bound program.

Last year the city and participating organizations committed to planting an additional 5,000 flowers as part of the Boston Blooms program
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