Mt. Kisco, NY – Where can you get a basketful of the freshest, juiciest and tastiest tomatoes in town – along with the best beans, squash, beets and more – without even reaching for your wallet? In your own garden, of course! And, for the first time ever in a Westchester County Park you can claim your own patch of garden in the new Organic Community Garden at Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers.

Garden plots are available immediately, and now is the time to get seeds and seedlings in the ground for early-summer harvest.

The new Community Garden program is part of the county’s Be Fit Westchester initiative to encourage residents to eat healthier and be more physically active. Growing a garden is one way residents can add fresh vegetables to their diet in an inexpensive way.

“Even if you live in an apartment and don’t have growing space on your property, you can have your own garden and grow fresh vegetables,’’ said County Executive Andy Spano. “This new program at Lenoir Preserve, will allow even those who live in urban areas to enjoy the health benefits, wonderful tastes and the bounty of their own garden.’’

In addition to enjoying the health benefits and cost savings associated with growing their own fresh produce, participating gardeners will be making their own small contribution to sustainability and combating climate change since the closer to home food grows the less greenhouse gasses are created in the transportation process. By using no chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and instead creating long-term soil fertility, recycling soil nutrients, encouraging and enhancing of biological cycles and efficient use of water, gardeners become land stewardship partners.

Plots are 10 feet by 10 feet in size; half-plots are available as well. Gardening tools and watering hoses will be available on site, and fencing material will be provided to all gardeners. Lenoir Preserve staff members are on site and available to answer gardening questions and assist with site selection. Participants will be able to access their gardens from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.

Lenoir Preserve is on Dudley Street, just off Route 9, in Yonkers, immediately south of the Hastings-on-Hudson border. It can be reached easily from the Saw Mill River Parkway, Executive Boulevard exit.

For more information, call Lenoir Preserve at (914) 968-5851.

source : westchester.com