Garden Contest Winners

Thank you to all who submitted beautiful photos for my Garden Contest. The inspiration for the contest was to ask us to look for the beauty around us during this difficult time and to acknowledge the hard work of local gardeners who add so much beauty to our community. I was delighted to look through the numerous submissions of photos of home gardens, community gardens, apartment balcony gardens, and even plots of sidewalk that gardeners had adopted and cultivated.

The stories they wrote along with the submissions were quite touching. Many wrote about how they found gardening during the pandemic and what a wonderful outlet it has been; how they share their vegetable harvest with neighbors and friends (and even nature’s little friends!); and how they've enjoyed spending quality family time with their hands in the dirt. Gardening is a deeply fulfilling pastime, and as one of them noted, “plant people are generous and kind folk.”

Click here to view the submissions for the Garden Contest.

1ST PLACE, HOME GARDEN: GINA E. (MAMARONECK)
 

2ND PLACE, HOME GARDEN: LORENZO B. (YONKERS)

1ST PLACE, COMMUNITY GARDEN: WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST, SUGAR HILL FARM (BEDFORD HILLS)

Westchester Land Trust's Sugar Hill Farm in Bedford Hills produces an average of 7,000 servings of food for local food pantries every year. Socially distanced volunteers of all ages and from every corner of Westchester help plant, water, weed, and harvest crops in this garden from April through October. Small groups of volunteers farm four times a week and learn all about regenerative farming in the process. This year, due to the threat of COVID-19, they have strict volunteer protocols in place, but their work in the garden is more important than ever before since more and more families have had to turn to food pantries due to loss of job or income.

2ND PLACE, COMMUNITY GARDEN: BRONXVILLE GIVING GARDEN

The Bronxville Giving Garden (BCG) is a community-based vegetable garden that donates organic produce to families in need in lower Westchester County. BCG is a volunteer organization under the umbrella of the Bronxville Green Committee (BGC), which spearheaded the initiative to bring the Garden to life. In 2016, seed money from the Village of Bronxville and the Bronxville Rotary Club made this project a reality. The BGG operates solely on the generosity of volunteers and donors and is responsible for all funding duties. Over 400 pounds of vegetables were donated last season.