HVHC Farmers Market Kickoff to Feature Master Gardeners
A press release from the Hudson Valley Hospital Center.
Are your tomatoes cracking? Are your zinnias mildewed? Get some advice from the experts on Tuesday, July 31 when master gardeners volunteers from the Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Westchester will be at Hudson Valley Hospital Center’s first in a series of farmers markets.
Volunteer master gardeners David Liddie, Barbara Morton, Kelly Fischetti and Bill Peron will be on hand with advice, informational materials and soil pH test kits to help gardeners as part of “Ask the Master Gardeners.” The event is one of the many community outreach services offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Program, whose mission is to dispense research based information from Cornell to the gardening public. The gardeners in the program also perform homeowner site visits, have a Speaker’s Bureau, work in demonstration gardens and run a yearly home gardening lecture series from January through June. For more information about Cornell’s program, visit www.cornell.edu/westchester.
Hudson Valley Hospital Center (HVHC) is continuing its healthy-eating initiative by hosting the monthly market series. The first market will be held on Tuesday, July 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The HVHC Farmer’s Market will be held once a month on Tuesdays, July 31, Aug. 28, Sept. 25, Oct. 30, and Nov. 20 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. in the parking lot fronting on Crompond Road/Route 202, near the main entrance to the hospital. Free parking is available.
The farmer’s market series is an expansion of HVHC’s Seeds for Health, an educational and therapeutic program for cancer patients and their families. Seeds for Health launched in April 2012 with the opening of the Organic Garden for Healing, serving as the classroom for the program which stresses the importance of nutrition in healing and the therapeutic value of gardening in managing stress and reducing anxiety. HVHC’s Organic Garden for Healing is maintained by patients, employees, and members of the community.
The farmers market will feature produce grown by local farms, including Bracco Farms, W. Rogowski Farm, Continental Organics, Glynwood Farm, Hemlock Hill Farm; farm-raised meats from Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center; and other gourmet items. Staff from HVHC’s Nutrition and Education departments will also be on-hand with information to help integrate healthy eating practices into everyday life.
“By offering this monthly series of farmers markets at our hospital, we hope to encourage everyone to buy local, fresh produce and educate the community on how to maintain a nutritious, healthy diet,” said HVHC President John C. Federspiel.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.