Sidney Kalugin of Jackson Heights watering his tomatoes at Queens Botanical Garden’s Senior Garden last summer. Photo: Terese Anthony
This just in: Don't grow old, grow vegetables!
How often does valuable New York real estate get offered for free? For a brief time, four 15 ft. X 5 ft. spaces are available to gardeners over 60 years old in Queens Botanical Garden’s Senior Garden.
Now in its 43rd year, Senior Garden’s approximately 45 members grow radishes, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, acorn squash, and flowers and tend apple, fig, and pear trees from April to September. Members are free to take home whatever they grow in their gardens.
Apart from the vegetables, Senior Gardeners appreciate the exercise, fresh air, tranquility, and pride of accomplishment that come with gardening. A sign near the garden’s gate promises, “Don’t grow old, grow vegetables.”
Another benefit is the close friendships that grow along with the plants. Every Wednesday, Senior Garden’s members meet for lunch at picnic tables under a white tent. They celebrate birthdays, trade jokes, discuss gardening techniques, and boast about their grandchildren. Occasionally, the group organizes trips to other gardens or the Philadelphia Flower Show.
In summer, Senior Gardeners open their gate to the public on alternating Saturdays so members can answer questions, share experiences, and display prized vegetables and flowers. Since many members have gardened for decades, their collective experience represents hundreds of years of practical expertise.
Senior Garden is open to members Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 am to 12 Noon. The quarter-acre garden is located in the southwest quadrant of Queens Botanical Garden, near the College Point Boulevard gate, about a five-minute walk from Main Street and a short distance from QBG’s Crommelin Street parking lot.
For more information, visit www.queensbotanical.org or call 718-886-3800, ext.200. Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main St., Flushing, NY 11355. Accessible by LIRR or #7 train to Main St., Flushing. Buses: Q44, Q20.
