Above the hustle and bustle of Watertown, don't be surprised if you hear the cluck of chickens.
In that city, a hot pink chicken coop sits in an unusual space and it marks a trend that's bringing "farm living" into the heart of urban areas.
"It's not just a matter of watering. They're learning about crop cycles, we're learning about how to compost," James Miner said.
Miner isn't a professional farmer though. the plants where he works are located just beyond a parking lot, planted in about a hundred milk crates -- just outside the offices of Sasaki and Associates.
There are also chickens.
"The agricultural initiative at work, worked so well that we really wanted to build on that," Sasaki and Associates employee Philip Dugdale said.
Dugdale is known as "the chicken man."
"They're really easy to care for," he said.
Dugdale says his hot pink chicken coop is the only one of its kind located at a business property. But he won't be surprised if others get in the game.
Gretl, Gretchen and Heidi -- all chickens -- are part of a trend building for almost three years, when Boston passed a zoning order that allowed urban farming. Since then, city residences, colleges, even Fenway Park, have begun to install patches for growing crops.
Sasaki is part of a small, but increasing number of companies adding them as well.
"I know in Boston, there's 15 or 20 that I'm aware of," Miner said.
Miner says the trend is growing because people want to know where their food comes from, cities want to shed their "food desert" labels and businesses want to offer a better work/life balance.
"Fundamentally, there's a source of pride around all of this," Miner said. "This has been a place with a culture of 'no' and now it's becoming more of a culture of 'Why not? Let's try stuff. Let's experiment.'"
Miner said where there are chickens today, there could be honeybees tomorrow.
He believes that as interest in urban farming builds, many of these simple growing spots will expand to meet the food and environmental needs of city dwellers.
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