From inside his Bolton Hill home, Anthony Duncan heard whistling and clopping — the soundtrack, he knew, of an arabber with his produce-filled wagon and horse.

Duncan, a patent attorney and Washington, D.C., native, was big into juicing at the time and had a list of fruits and vegetables he planned to buy. But there was a problem: He didn’t have cash; he almost never does. And arabbing, a fading but important part of Baltimore culture, is historically cash-only.

The encounter in 2019 inspired Duncan, a self-taught software developer, to build an app that enables arabbers to accept digital payments. The new app, called Row and Wagon, which is available to download even though it’s still in the testing phase, will also show arabber routes and detail what produce is available on their carts.

As the weather warms — temperatures are expected to climb to 60 degrees Saturday and even higher next weekend — arabbers start circulating Baltimore streets and will more regularly appear on the app.

Duncan said he wants to make sure it has the flexibility to embrace all the traditions of arabbing, and a way to entice the next generation into the trade.

“It’s certainly not like Uber, where everyone has a car kind of thing. It’s a very special, unique culture to be able to get into,” Duncan said.

Duncan already had two apps under his belt before Row and Wagon. Black Card Verified is a Black history trivia game. Trust Circle digitally stores a driver’s license and registration and alerts emergency contacts if the user is pulled over by police.

Trust Circle was heavily influenced by the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols, who was brutally beaten by Memphis police during a traffic stop near his mother’s home, Duncan said.

As he started thinking through the arabber app, Duncan searched online for a contact and found M. Holden Warren, who grew up in Baltimore County and has worked with the arabbers for 20 years.

Warren first began interacting with the arabbers shortly after moving back to Baltimore. He was searching for a story to pursue and began following an arabber. He said he has been documenting and supporting them ever since.

Warren said he has long wanted to help modernize arabbing with an app. But he doesn’t have the expertise to build it, and past conversations with developers didn’t go anywhere. Connecting with Duncan was serendipitous, Warren said, adding that Duncan brought seriousness and a quick turnaround.

“This app is really like the vanguard of a whole new wave of arabbing that we are trying to bring out this summer,” Warren said.

Warren, Duncan and several arabbers have spent the past few weeks trying to work out the kinks of the app. There were problems big and small, including arabbers who needed help opening bank accounts and setting up other forms of digital forms of payment.

Some arabbers were loath to step away from the cash aspect of the trade. But it’s necessary, said Levar Mullen, a long-time arabber who helps manage Carlton Street Stables in West Baltimore, where their horses are kept.

Cash-only “puts us in a box,” Mullen said. “Everything is digital. We are losing a lot of business by not being virtual and digital.”

The introduction of the app comes at a time when the arabbing industry could use a lifeline. Two decades ago, Warren said, there were 20 to 30 active arabbers, and today there are fewer than five.

Last summer, Bilal “BJ” Abdullah, a longtime arabber and fixture in the community, was shot and killed by police in West Baltimore. Protests and memorials brought out hundreds, and reminded Baltimoreans of the rich tradition of arabbing.

Fruit men and their horses have trotted Baltimore streets since the 19th century. But there are fewer stables and wagon repair places in the city these days. They often travel to Pennsylvania Dutch Country for those services.

“I think the special thing about the arabbers is they’re really cherished around the city,“ Duncan said. ”Not only for just the offering of the fruits and vegetables, but for the experience.”

Stable Baltimore provides ways for people to connect with arabbers. It’s a way to “present the public with a clearer view of the value and the beauty of arabbing and what it brings to our city and our country and our culture,” said Warren, who cofounded the nonprofit with Mullen.

The Row and Wagon app also has a section of informational videos about arabbing.

While the app’s aim is to support the trade, there is a 5% platform fee, which will be used to maintain the app and benefit the Arabber Preservation Society, Duncan said.

Duncan, Mullen and Warren hope that the app will also be a pipeline for new arabbers to be introduced to the industry and entrepreneurship. There’s also the broader Maryland horse industry where skills can be applied. Arabbing has often been a trade passed down within families.

Mullen said he is excited about the versatility of the app.

“It’s remarkable,” he said, that people can closely follow along while he’s on his route and even request certain items before he gets to them.

In the meantime, Warren, Duncan and Mullen are planning to get the word out at different community events. And Duncan said the wagons will have QR codes that patrons can scan to download or learn more about the app.

To Warren, the digital upgrade is vital: “If this project doesn’t take off in the next year, in the next couple of years, then arabbing will disappear.”