Kids and adults of the Far Rockaway community now have another activity to get involved in.
The Rockaway Youth Task Force, a Far Rockaway-based organization working to empower youth in the community through civic engagement, recently unveiled a community garden. Though the garden is located in Arverne, at 310 Beach 58th St., it is available to anyone who lives on the Rockaway peninsula.
The RYTF Community Garden officially opened to the public on Saturday, May 9, where kids and adults planted their first plants.
aThe reason we decided to start this is because of the lack of access to fresh, low-cost food after Sandy,a said Silaka Cox, the chief operations officer at RYTF. aSome supermarkets were closed for over a year and we wanted to provide a space where community members could grow food organically.a
Barry Mckenzie, a six-year resident of Far Rockaway and the gardenas manager, described it as a safe haven for the community.
aThis allows people to have something productive to do during the day,a he said.
Plants in the garden include different types of tomatoes and peppers, blueberries, grapes and flowers including petunias and marigolds. The garden has over 30 raised beds and also houses a greenhouse.
For more info, visit Facebook.com/RYTFgarden.
