A garden is growing out of an old mill building on the Blackstone River near downtown Pawtucket; one of the birthplaces of the American Industrial Revolution. Pawtucket was dotted with old mill buildings that were used as sweat shops in the early 1800's with long working hours, and in some cases employing child labor. Two centuries later, textile manufacturing had left Pawtucket, being outsourced to other countries and the old mills were left abandoned in the landscape; beginning their process of decay.

The people have stripped away the skin from the wooden A-frame portion of the building, letting the weather in to feed their plants growing up amongst the bones of the old building. Atop the garden the people reside in a modified portion of the building that incorporates new cladding that they built using the clapboards from the removed skin. In some places on the wall they have extended rows of the clapboards out to hold soil for plants to grow along the wall.

The complex was chosen primarily because of its discrete nature, its protective qualities, and its easy access to the river. The garden is located in the center of the complex surrounded on all sides by different buffers. On the East side there is a 3-story, rectangular brick building. It has a good view of the surroundings from the roof and lots of large rooms filled with old equipment. On the South side there is a large rock embankment of mostly poison ivy bordering the complex and the old school. The West side is the river, 120 feet wide; it flows at a pretty good pace because the Pawtucket Falls are only a half-mile downstream. To the North, the only access to the garden is down a narrow alley between the brick building to the East and the wooden building that holds the garden.

On the West side there is a path that runs along the river. It has limited access to the garden by means of drawbridge across a moat that is separated from the river by a large ceramic wall that supports the path itself. The people water their plants during dry times using water from the moat. Once a week, the people lay the bridge across the moat to allow visitors to cross the moat to barter and trade with them for the surplus produce from their garden.

This summer, people will be seeking out new sites for growing. . .