Step into Bobby’s Garden and the first thing visitors feel is a certain tranquility and yes, pleasure, too. Bare as it is, the garden still exudes something special.
That’s partly by design but it’s really more about the spirit of Bobby Gentry, who by the life he lived and the love of gardening he had, inspired the space. It’s a celebration of the man.
It looks like a bare patch of ground now but come January when the students return there will be several 30-foot garden beds. Bobby’s Garden was created to honor Bobby Gentry, a beloved Tucson man who loved knowledge and gardening. (Matt Gentry/Submitted)
“Bobby’s Garden is the perfect tribute to my dad because it reflects exactly how he lived his life…planting, growing, harvesting and sharing,” Matt Gentry, Bobby’s son, said. “Gardening was his love language, and it’s how he taught me and so many others what it means to give. For my dad, this isn’t just a garden… it’s single-handedly the greatest tribute we could ever do to honor the way he lived and loved.”
Tucked behind a shaded parking lot at Mansfeld Middle School on East 6th Street and across the street from the university, Bobby’s Garden is the manifestation of a dream hatched by the people who loved Bobby Gentry, who died on Jan. 16, 2024.
It’s part of the University of Arizona’s School Garden Workshop, a collaborative partnership with Tucson Unified School District helmed by director Moses Thompson. The object is to help students from around the city grow native food plants at their schools’ gardens. Bobby’s Garden is Mansfeld’s garden and is one of about 70 around the school district.
The fact that the garden is connected with learning speaks to Bobby’s love of knowledge, something he never stopped consuming.
“He never rushed people; he never made learning intimidating,” Matt said. “He always believed that if you took your time and showed up with kindness things would grow the way they’re supposed to.”
Matt added that his dad’s love of gardening began with an olive tree.
“We had this olive tree in our front yard,” he said “He and his best friend Mike got together and they decided to harvest and make olives. Olives are inconvenient. That is a process. Holy cow! It takes patience beyond what I certainly have but he had such a love for it. He loved the process. An absurd amount of olives came from this tree and then right after that he learned how peanuts grow and that just fascinated him… and he grew peanuts in Tucson. If he put his mind to it he could grow anything. He could probably grow a cow.”
Right now Bobby’s Garden is mostly dirt and a few immature fruit trees but Moses Thompson, director of the School Garden Workshop, has a vision.
“This will be one of our flagship gardens,” he said. “We’re going to do a greenhouse in the corner and a chicken coop… and eight 30-foot garden beds.”
What will they grow?
“It just depends on the season,” Thompson added. “In the winter time we’ll grow all of our root vegetables and leafy greens and then in the summer we’ll do things like chilies and tomatoes and squash.”
Just to make it a little more personal, a bit of Bobby’s ashes have been added to the soil.
Although the School Garden Workshop has been in operation for a number of years, Bobby’s Garden was born only a couple of years ago.
Adjacent to the garden are two homes that were boarded up since the 1980s but are now the headquarters of the University of Arizona’s School Garden Workshop. The kitchen is intended to teach Mansfield Middle School students how to prepare the crops they grow and harvest. (Matt Gentry/Submitted)
“Bobby’s Garden really started with people, not plans,” Norma Gentry, Bobby’s widow, said. “After years of working side-by-side with the UA School Garden Workshop, Ray Flores Jr. and Chef Carlotta Flores were the ones who said, ‘You need to talk to these folks.’ That nudge turned into conversations, those conversations turned into momentum, and eventually, Bobby’s Garden found its home.”
This space is much more than a garden, however. It’s also a learning space, which speaks to Bobby’s love of knowledge; he was always reading and learning Matt said. Called the Sprouts House Culinary Bungalows, the property also anchors two historic bungalows that have been fully repurposed thanks to a very large donation from Sprouts Market.
One of the buildings has been remade into a teaching kitchen complete with state-of-the-art equipment and workspaces. The other has a prep kitchen, rooms for students to meet and an office. There are plenty of accessible restrooms on the property as well.
Adjacent to Bobby’s Garden is a shaded pavilion meant to be an outdoor classroom. It is hoped students, parents, teachers and anyone else for that matter, may come for workshops and classes.
As much as he loved learning, Bobby never graduated from high school. He left school, joined the Navy and after discharge got hired at TEP, where he spent his entire working life.
“He started in the boiler room and worked his way up the ranks over a course of 49 years and became the senior systems supervisor, a position that now requires three people,” Matt said.
Bobby Gentry and his son Matt Gentry in earlier times. (Matt Gentry/Submitted)
When Matt talks about his father he does so with a lot of emotion. Clearly he misses his dad but Bobby’s Garden really represents the best part of his dad and for Matt is a fitting way to honor his memory.
“Bobby’s Garden is really a tribute to my dad and the way he moved through the world,” Matt said. “He loved growing things but more than that he loved sharing what he learned. This garden is a way that keeps his spirit alive.”
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