If you’re looking for one more reason to visit Untermyer Gardens this fall, follow the long stone staircase toward the Hudson River and then turn your attention to the garden on the right.
There, tucked alongside one of Yonkers’ most spectacular views, is the Untermyer ornamental vegetable garden—a place where tomatoes can be purple, okra flowers can stop you in your tracks, and Armenian cucumbers climb a handsome trellis made from Hudson River driftwood.
Behind it all are two Yonkers residents who have devoted much of their working lives to making the garden flourish: John Jacono and Liz Dreeben.
Yonkers Kids Who Left and Then Found Their Calling
The two actually knew the garden long before they were its caretakers. As teenagers, they explored what was then a very different place—a deserted, swampy, vine-covered corner of Untermyer that was overrun with deer and offered a secluded place to hang out with friends.
Today, the garden is anything but abandoned.
After John graduated from the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, he joined the UG team in 2018 and eventually helped create the ornamental vegetable garden in 2020 (find out more about John here). Liz formerly owned a pet cemetery in Fishkill and has worked at Untermyer since 2016 (find out more about Liz here). Together, they have transformed the garden into a productive and often surprising showcase of edible and ornamental plants. And once you’ve heard their story, you’ll no doubt want to make the bonus recipe below!
Much of the fun begins in winter, when John and Liz pore over seed catalogs from companies such as Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Ivy Garth Seeds and Plants, searching for unusual varieties. Their discoveries include the purple tomatoes and the okra plant whose delicate, striking flowers are as beautiful as anything in a traditional flower garden.
Liz built the garden’s Tudor-style trellis from Hudson River driftwood. Armenian cucumber vines now wind their way up its handsome frame.
Sometimes a new plant arrives from another garden. A variegated cotton plant, for example, was originally grown from Wave Hill seeds.
But perhaps the garden’s greatest crop is not a vegetable at all. It is the young people who help tend it.
Beginning each spring and continuing through the fall harvest, 18 highly motivatedYonkers public high school students work as paid horticultural interns with John and Liz as their mentors. They do just about everything the garden requires: sowing seeds, turning beds, planting, weeding, and harvesting.
The program began in 2019, and John and Liz have stayed in touch with many of their 100 or so former interns. John speaks with particular pride about several who went on to study environmental science in college.
The produce grown by the gardeners and students has a purpose beyond the garden gates, too. Lettuce, cabbage, Swiss chard, kale, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, herbs, strawberries and other crops harvested throughout the growing season are all donated to local food banks.
Of course, every garden has its enemies.
When asked which pests do the most damage, the two gardeners answered simultaneously: “Humans!”
The gated garden has been locked since late May unless gardeners are working in it, protecting it not only from raccoons but from people who apparently cannot resist helping themselves. Raccoons have been known to pull down tall corn stalks to nibble the ears. And recently, on a late-summer morning, the gardeners discovered that their fully grown watermelons had been snapped off their vines and carried away. The theft was particularly disappointing because the gardeners had planned to save the watermelon seeds for next year’s crop.
If you do visit the garden and the gates are unlocked, admire the vegetables, flowers and carefully tended beds, but John and Liz ask you to please resist the temptation to pick.
However, it’s hard to imagine anything dampening John and Liz’s enthusiasm for their work. They are clearly devoted to this unusual garden—and to sharing it with the people of Yonkers.
St. Faith’s House Foundation, Community Development Block Grant Program, and Con Edison
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Apples, Shallots and Ginger
It’s fall, and that means making and eating soups with vegetables like butternut squash. Here’s a simple recipe combining roasted butternut squash, apples, fresh ginger, vegetable broth and seasonings. A recipe, like this one, is only a guideline. Let your own taste buds take you to the finish line.|
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into ½-inch-thick pieces
3 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound of apples, such as Sugar Bees or Gala, peeled and sliced ½-inch thick
½ inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 to 5 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar, optional
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste
Directions:
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the squash, shallots, and oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well to combine.
- Spread the mixture in a large roasting pan in a single layer. Place the pan in the oven and roast until the squash is somewhat softened, about 15 minutes.
- Add the apples and the fresh ginger; scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan while tossing the mixture together.
- Return the pan to the oven and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes more or until the apples and squash are tender.
- Working in batches, scrape the mixture and 4 cups of the vegetable broth into a food processor or a blender container and process until smooth.
- Turn the soup into a medium saucepan; season with the cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar, if using. Simmer the soup, slightly covered, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thin, if desired, with the remaining vegetable broth.
Serves 4 to 6
Note: Refrigerate any leftovers to enjoy again reheated a day or two later!
