Two Queens greenthumbs grew big and went home with first-place prizes during a citywide fair in Brooklyn last week.
On Sept. 16, hundreds of community gardeners came together to show off their prized vegetables, flowers, jams, honey and herbs to be judged at the NYC Parks’ GreenThumb Harvest Fair at Brooklyn Bears Pacific Garden.
“This is one of my favorite annual events because our community gardeners get to show off their hard work and also be recognized for making our city a greener place, ” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchel J. Silver, FAICP. “We have more than 550 community gardens in the city, helping to improve air quality, bio–diversity, and the well–being of New Yorkers.”
Jamaica’s own McKinley’s Children’s Garden took home the prizes for Best Tasting Tomato,which was grown by Wajeedah Anderson-Beyah, and Largest Squash By Length, which was grown by Fareed Beyah.
Ten contestants from the five boroughs also competed on-site to make a delicious dish with ingredients picked from various community gardens in GreenThumb Fresh Chef competition. The award of Fresh Chef went to Tracy Nottingham of Prospect Heights Community Farm.
GreenThumb oversees more than 550 community gardens across the city. Created in response to the city’s financial crisis of the 1970s, which resulted in the abandonment of public and private land, GreenThumb provides these gardens with material support, operational support and workshops.
