From unused lawn to bountiful vegetable garden

Half-acre at Westchester Land Trust is transformed for those in need

Norma Silva and part of the cucumber crop. HERB FOSTER PHOTO

Allison Turcan, head gardener at WLT's half-acre community farm.

Farm volunteer Judy Hausman

By HERB FOSTER

On a side road in Bedford, a half-acre garden is producing and donating enough vegetables to feed hundreds of neighbors in need. 

An initiative of the Westchester Land Trust, the program is run by volunteers and a local farmer, and it continues to flourish despite recent shifts in federal funding.

In 2007, Westchester Land Trust moved its headquarters to a 4-acre property on Harris Road in Bedford. A few years later, in 2012, a formerly underused half-acre lawn on the property was transformed into a thriving garden with a mission to grow fresh food for neighbors facing food insecurities. Since then, volunteers have been coming to grow vegetables, all of which are then donated to the Community Center of Northern Westchester and the Mount Vernon Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Last year alone, the garden yielded 1,065 pounds of food, which works out to more than 5,300 servings. Over the life of the program, volunteers have grown nearly 17,000 pounds of food, or about 85,000 servings. In 2024, volunteers logged 142 hours in the garden doing everything from planting and weeding to harvesting and even helping with deliveries.

In addition to donating fresh vegetables, the program provides some cooked food, utilizing two kitchens, one at the Bedford Presbyterian Church and one at the First Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon

For the past four years, the garden program was supported by an annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provides food benefits to low-income families. These funds covered essentials like seeds, fencing, fertilizer, mulch, and a stipend for a part-time farmer, Allison Turcan, who also founded D.I.G. Farm. This year, however, WLT’s $50,000 SNAP grant was not selected for renewal.

Turcan points out that a lot of planning goes into this garden, given the target audience, “we’re trying to produce as much as we can in the space that we have, to give back as much as possible to the community. We tend to go for things that people are going to like to eat — lots of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, string beans, peas, potatoes and winter squash.”

Despite the funding issue, the program continues. Volunteers show up every Tuesday and Thursday to tend the garden and the produce gets delivered. In addition, assistance comes from corporate volunteer groups, including Regeneron, Arthur Gallagher Insurance, and Morgan Stanley. School groups also participate, including the Earth Rise Sustainability Club from John Jay High School.

Norma Silva has been coming up from Yonkers for over 10 years and has now become a trustee of the WLT. She had been working on a similar project in Yonkers and when that ended, she joined the WLT garden program.

“It’s very rewarding, just putting in the seeds and you end up harvesting what you have put in,” she said. “And the fact as to where it’s going, that’s just awesome. You know, people need it.”

Judy Hausman, from South Salem, has been a volunteer for four years.

“I have volunteered at a bunch of different farms, but this place is very special,” she said. “It’s such a great cause. I love gardening, vegetable gardening in particular. And the Community Center of Northern Westchester needs fresh food.”

The Westchester Land Trust works with public and private partners to preserve land in perpetuity, to protect and enhance natural resources in our communities. This garden program is a logical extension of their commitment to land preservation, community and agriculture. Their mission: “Open spaces and a diverse landscape are central aspects of the quality of life in our community, and a fundamental reason we live here. Our vision is to preserve these natural resources for generations to come.”

“Like a lot of other organizations, our funding sources have been less stable and more unpredictable,” says Jes Parker, director of communications for the land trust. “As a result, we’re looking to individual donors and other sources like foundations to help make up those gaps, so we can continue to do the important work that our communities need us to do. It has forced us to look at different funding streams and turn towards private foundations, private people.

“We are dedicated to making sure we continue to feed the community and give people their connections to nature,” Parker said.