Every once in a while you come across something that is truly unique and inspirational, something that makes you rethink what is possible, something that makes you re-evaluate whether you, yourself, are living up to your own potential and leaves you with with the determination to do just that. The Underground Gardens of Baldassare Forestiere was one of those places.
While in Fresno, the Hippygeek came across an ad for the underground gardens which sounded interesting but seemed a bit incongruous to me. I had a hard time envisioning or even understanding gardens growing underground all of which which gave us the motivation to check it out.
Baldassare Forestiere was an Sicilian immigrant. Not being the first born, he stood no hope of inheriting the family’s citrus empire. So, in 1906 at the age of 22, he moved to America to build his own empire. Unfortunately, the 80 acres of land he purchased in Fresno turned out to be what the locals call hardpan. The dictionary defines it as “a hard impervious layer of clay below the soil, resistant to drainage and root growth.” It looked like silt layers turned to concrete to me, not exactly what one would call farmland.
To make matters worse, the summer heat reached 120 degrees. Desperate to get relief from the heat, he dug through the 5 feet of hardpan and excavated a “home”. With a pick axe, shovel and wheelbarrow, he created rooms and corridors using techniques based on the ancient catacombs.
He soon started experimenting with plants creating underground rooms open to the sky for sunlight. He found great success with the controlled environment that protected the plants from both the heat and frost. He dug a well and created a drainage system so that when rain came through the skylights, he could collect it. The skylights were strategically placed for the trees and to light the rooms. He also put in “windows” that provided continuos airflow and views from room to room. Whether planned or learned through experience, he incorporated techniques to create a livable underground world in which both he and his plants flourished.
left: This room had a pond with fish and a glass bottom that could be viewed from a room below.
right: His “winter” bedroom.
left: His “Summer” bedroom.
The productive life span of fruit trees is usually about 50 years but with disease can be as low as 15 years. Some of the fruit trees in his garden are 80 years old and still laden with fruit.
He eventually was able to make enough money selling his fruit to quit his “day job” and work on his creation full time. He worked by himself with just a few tools for 40 years creating an underground maze of 100 chambers spanning 10 acres of his property.
left: His well.
The guy was a genius and what he created is a work of art. I like curvy things and everywhere you look there are stone (hardpan) archways, the corridors are rounded, the planters for the fruit trees are round and one room flows into another. By the end of the tour, I was ready to move in.
Left: He heated bath water with the sun above then drained it into the bathtub.
right: A table made from hardpan.
Baldasarre died in 1946 at the age of 67. Since then, his property has been whittled down to a mere 5 acres. Some of his property, containing part of his grotto’s succumbed to “progess” . Eminent Domain swallowed up a portion of his grotto’s during the construction of route 99. And, when the heavy equipment starting falling into and get swallowed up by his tunnels, they filled them in with concrete. That makes me gasp every time I think about it. Why don’t we just spray paint over the Mona Lisa while were at it!
On the up side, the remaining acreage is in the hands of relatives who are determined to keep his memory and work alive. I certainly will remember him. Every time I get overwhelmed by a task, I will think of digging through 5 feet of hardpan with a pick axe and I’m pretty sure my task will suddenly appear very easy.
above: Giant pomegranates on one of his trees.
“To make something with lots of money, that is easy. But to make something out of nothing – that now, is something!” Baldassare Forestiere
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