A Jamaica Plain resident doing some spring planting found a nasty surprise several inches under the backyard — potentially explosive ordnance.
A neighbor moved the two pieces of ordnance from the yard at 25 Rosemary to an area between 25 and 27 Rosemary, according to a police report. The resident called cops, who responded with a police dog and bomb squad technicians.
The bomb squad did not initially believe the items contained high explosives. They did X-rays and confirmed there weren't any. The items were taken to the bomb squad headquarters in Dorchester for disposal.
Though the police report said the incident took place at 25 Rosemary, the only homes with backyards on that block are on the even side of the street. Several residents whom I stopped to ask about the 12:22 p.m. Sunday incident said they hadn't noticed anything around that time.
The police report doesn't say what exactly the ordnance was, but the term can refer to bullets, artillery shells and grenades, among other types of military hardware.
At least the Rosemary Street gardener has it easier than farmers in areas scorched by war. To this day, farmers in Belgium and France collect an "Iron Harvest" of potentially still volatile weapons from the First World War.