Just waking up after a long winter and spring, this 7.5-acre green space near Northeastern University is one of Boston’s best-kept secrets.
On a warm early summer afternoon, the Fenway Victory Gardens feel like a quiet secret in the city. Ducks drift along the Muddy River, geese graze beneath trees and a few curious visitors stroll the narrow paths.
For a place with so much history — and so close to downtown Boston — it remains relatively unknown beyond the local community.
Located in the Back Bay Fens, just a short walk from Northeastern University, the gardens are part of the Emerald Necklace park system. They’re easy to reach and free to explore. Winding, tree-lined paths lead to more than 500 plots spread across 7.5 acres. Each one is different. Some brim with vegetables, others bloom with flowers and a few resemble backyard retreats.
After lying dormant through winter and much of spring, the gardens are now coming to life.
To get there from Northeastern’s campus on Huntington Avenue, walk past the Museum of Fine Arts and cross the Fenway overpass. Follow the path along the Muddy River into the Back Bay Fens. The gardens will be on your right. The walk takes 10 to 15 minutes.
The Fenway Victory Gardens date to 1942, planted during World War II as part of a national effort to encourage Americans to grow their own food. At the time, victory gardens were common. Today, Boston’s is one of only two original sites still in operation nationwide. The other is in Minneapolis.
On a recent visit, longtime gardeners were at work — watering, weeding and trimming vines. Despite the distant hum of traffic, the area is calm, almost meditative. Birds call from the trees, turtles lounge on fallen logs, bees hover around blossoms and sunlight filters through the branches.
For a moment, it’s easy to forget you’re in the middle of Boston.
Then, through the trees, a glimpse of the Prudential Center or a sliver of skyline brings it back into view — this carefully tended space is part of the city, not apart from it.