A very engaged person is typically filled with excitement over details – Did you see this? Let me show you something else. Oh, I forgot to tell you about this. It’s a somewhat constant peppering of reminders that the onion has many layers and the story is deep-rooted, to pardon the gardening pun.
In that regard, David S. Smith, who has lived in Westwood with his family since 1992, has a lot to share and even more to be excited about. At one point during our cover photo shoot, he guided Diana Bezdedeanu and me inside the First Baptist Church and eagerly said, “Do you want to go up the attic, it’s really something?”
Before you know it, we were climbing a dark, steep, creaky pitch of stairs toward the belltower – unfettered access in the town’s oldest church, originally built in 1731 and moved a number of times – most recently in 1989 from its spot on the intersection of High and Pond Streets to the current location just north of the old Fisher School and Thurston Middle School on High Street.
With a stifling heat embracing us, I had to take a photo of David, just to prove we were up there.
As the volunteer Facilities Director of First Baptist Church, David applies years of knowledge and expertise to a job he views as physically, intellectually, naturally and spiritually vital. If you ask him what he sees when he looks at a patch of land, chances are he sees far more than most of us ever could.
Where others see brush, weeds, or an overgrown woodland, David sees potential. He sees ecosystems waiting to be restored, soil waiting to be enriched, wildlife waiting to thrive, and communities waiting to benefit.
That vision has transformed not only the property surrounding his Westwood home, but now the grounds surrounding First Baptist Church. The work marries landscaping with stewardship based on a promise of leaving something better than you found it. Most importantly, his commitment and dedication proves that small actions can create lasting change.
A Childhood Rooted Outdoors
Smith’s connection to nature began long before he ever moved to Westwood. Growing up in Burlington during the 1960s and 70s, he spent countless hours exploring the woods near his home. Like many children of that era, his days were spent outside until the streetlights came on.
“We spent most of our time in the woods,” Smith recalls. “We built trails, rode bikes, picked blueberries and explored. That was our world.”
Even while studying Construction Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology, his fascination with plants never faded. He found himself growing things on dormitory windowsills and landscaping wherever he could. The seeds of exploration were planted. All that evolved over the years was the scale of his impact.
Turning a Wilderness Into an Ecosystem
When David and his wife, Dina, purchased their current Westwood home in 2002, the backyard looked nothing like it does today.
The wooded area behind the house was nearly impenetrable. Thick bittersweet vines, thorn bushes, poison ivy, and invasive growth created what Smith describes as a wall.
“It took me a year just to get about four feet into it,” he says.
Most homeowners would have accepted the challenge as impossible, but he embraced the opportunity.
Over the years, he carefully transformed the property into what he calls an edible forest, a thriving ecosystem designed to benefit both people and wildlife. Native species, fruit-bearing trees, pollinator habitats, and nutrient-rich soil now occupy spaces that were once overrun with invasive plants. His philosophy is simple: every improvement should accomplish multiple goals at once. An edible forest can provide food. It can improve soil health. It can support wildlife. It can absorb carbon. It can educate visitors. One project can solve many problems.
“I don’t want to make land a liability,” Smith says. “I want to make it an asset.”
Finding Value in What Others Throw Away
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Smith’s work is his ability to see resources where others see waste. His journey into soil creation began with something as ordinary as bags of leaves left at the curb. As most drove by and asked when the next “Yard Waste Pickup” was scheduled, he saw viable, valuable raw material.
Soon, grass clippings, leaves, compost, wood chips, coffee grounds, fireplace ash, eggshells, and even discarded seashells became ingredients in a long-term strategy to build healthy, living soil. As David’s commitment to land evolved, so did his partnerships with local coffee shops. To this day, he collects used coffee grounds and filters from many local Dunkin’ Donuts that would otherwise be thrown away. To most people, they are trash, but to David, they are nutrition.
He immersed himself in research, studying soil biology, nutrient cycles, carbon content, and natural systems. Through online connections with environmental enthusiasts and researchers around the world, he expanded his understanding of how healthy ecosystems function.
Today, the results are visible everywhere he works, as the soil surrounding his property has grown dramatically richer, deeper, and more productive than when he first arrived.
“I’ve probably added close to two feet of soil across much of the property,” Smith says.
A New Vision for Westwood’s Oldest Church
Three years ago, Smith brought that same vision and philosophy to First Baptist Church. Over generations, parishioners have worked tirelessly to preserve the church, adjusting to its relocation, installing solar panels, maintaining its grounds, and ensuring its future. From the outset, Smith believed the property could do even more. Rather than simply focus on maintaining the landscape, he envisioned a living environment that would support the church’s mission while benefiting future generations.
“I saw what I had learned at home could be applied here,” he says.
Today, improvements throughout the property focus on sustainability, functionality, and ecological health. His plantings enrich the soil, support wildlife, and create attractive gathering spaces for church members, schoolchildren, scouts, and visitors alike.
The Quiet Power of Baker Chapel
One of Smith’s favorite spaces on the property is the outdoor prayer and gathering area known as Baker Chapel. Originally created through the efforts of local scouts, the space serves many purposes. Outdoor worship services and scout ceremonies take place there. Individuals can also visit for quiet reflection.
Every day, at some point during his workflow, David pauses and prays, appreciating the space as an ever-evolving landscape that matures with the people who use it. Change and improvements come through thoughtful, long-term efforts, often using little more than a shovel, rake, and wheelbarrow.
“You don’t always know exactly where something is going when you start,” he says. “You feel it and see it as you move along.”
That philosophy has allowed David to improve the space while respecting its history and the many generations who have cared for it before him.
Building a Better Future
At its core, David’s work is driven by optimism. He understands the concerns many people have about environmental degradation, disappearing forests, and the loss of natural spaces, but he refuses to accept that decline as inevitable. He doesn’t preach doom, but possibility.
“We all witness the destruction around us,” he says. “But that doesn’t have to be the final note.”
Through creativity, patience, and a willingness to rethink what we throw away, he believes communities can rebuild ecosystems and create healthier environments for generations to come.
The work happening in his backyard and at First Baptist Church may seem local in scale, but the lessons are universal. Every leaf, every coffee ground, every handful of compost, every tree planted today becomes part of something larger tomorrow. The future is already taking root.
