When Chef Ron Abell left Boston’s fine-dining restaurant scene in 2006 to become executive chef at Fenway Park, he was eager to put his passion for farm-to-table cooking to work. While he quickly brought local, organic produce to the stadium’s then-recently-renovated restaurants and concessions, Abell never dreamed that produce would someday be grown less than 200 feet away.
Thanks to a chance meeting between Linda Pizzuti Henry, wife of Red Sox co-owner John Henry, and farmer Jessie Banhazl in 2013, Abell now walks mere steps to a thriving edible garden on the roof of the ballpark’s front office. There he can pick fresh basil or find inspiration for a new menu item.
Despite the brutal Boston winter, the garden—dubbed Fenway Farms—launched just in time for opening day of the 2015 season in April. It wasn’t Major League Baseball’s first foray into farming; the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies all have gardens at their stadiums. But at 5,000 square feet, Fenway Farms is the biggest of the bunch according to Chris Knight, manager of facility planning and services for the Red Sox—particularly impressive given the park’s relatively small size.
Although Banhazl originally estimated that the farm would generate 4,000 pounds of produce a year, primarily for the dining room at the EMC Club at Fenway Park, it has proven even more prolific. As of mid-August, with six weeks left in the regular baseball season, the garden already had produced 3,380 pounds, according to Banhazl. The crops contribute to the park’s on-site restaurants as well as to menu items at two concession stands open to general-ticket holders.
Although park concessionaire Aramark had input into what its farmer planted for the spring and summer growing seasons, the first year has been a learning experience. Although just about everything grew well, next year’s adjustments quickly became obvious. “Grow way less radishes and kale—that’s been our big lesson,” Banhazl says with a laugh.
Figuring out what to do with a sometimes overabundance of fresh produce was a happy problem for Abell—and a selling point for customers. Because he regularly changes the menus at the club restaurants to keep things interesting for season-ticket holders, he revels in the challenge of creating new menu items with the week’s harvest: Think crispy, fried squash blossoms stuffed with Vermont goat cheese and jalapenos, or scallions kneaded into pancakes and topped with tamari, ginger and more fresh scallions. In addition to serving kale salad every which way in the restaurants, Abell created a grilled chicken Caesar kale wrap that’s been selling well in concessions. (“You can carry it in one hand and still have the other hand free, whether you’re holding your kid’s hand or holding a beer,” he says.)
Educating young fans about the importance of urban agriculture was always one of the Red Sox’s main goals for Fenway Farms, and the organization is working on formalizing a pilot program that will allow student groups to visit the farm as part of their school curriculum. As it is, Banhazl anticipates that around 500,000 people will interact with the farm during each baseball season.
As Fenway Park tour groups come through (the farm has become an official stop), Banhazl has been able to hear fans’ feedback firsthand.
“They are sharing anecdotes about their own gardens at home and asking for advice on how to maintain their vegetables, and kids are asking their parents if they can have a garden,” she says. “It’s everything we could’ve hoped for in terms of having people interact with the site and leave it feeling that they want to do something themselves.”
Starting small
The farm is far from meeting 100 percent of Fenway's produce needs—for the EMC Club, it's more like 15 to 20 percent, Banhazl says. Abell says it doesn't make sense to take up precious garden space with pantry staples that have a large footprint. But he predicts the Fenway Farms percentage will increase.
