An empty plot of land in Kingston has quickly transformed into a vibrant portal to discovery and an initiative to combat food insecurity.
Local Girl Scouts, 4-H groups and students from Jenny Lynn Elementary were the first to visit the garden.
“I love gardening,” said eight-year-old Madilyn Simonovich, who is most excited to see tomatoes bloom at the garden operated by the Green Neighbors Network.
The fresh produce harvested here will be free for the community, while events here will educate about where food comes from, sustainability and gardening.
Green Neighbors Network
A passion for sustainability and a newfound green thumb inspired Jayanne Czerniakowski to establish the nonprofit and community garden.
Green Neighbors Network was founded in 2025 to create outdoor recreation opportunities and education around environmentally responsible practices.
Czerniakowski said it all started when she hosted a community clean-up event, and her granddaughter Ayonna became curious about gardening.
“Last year, I got three kids’ blue pools from [Facebook] Marketplace and poked some holes in them and put some garden soil in it,” she said. “And then I was like, maybe we should do a community garden, and then it just kind of spiraled from there.”
She recruited board members, including Jessica Miller from Luzerne.
“I've known Jayanne for over 25 years,” Miller said. “She is always calling me for gardening advice. I'm a huge gardener, have been for a long time.”
Alex Crossley, another board member, said she is “not yet” a gardener.
“I live two streets over and happened to see it on Facebook, and thought, well, let me come over and check it out. I have two young girls, and we came over and saw how great it was,” she said. “And then I went a little further and asked [Jayanne] if I could be involved with painting a panel on the fence.”
Each panel on the fence that surrounds the garden was painted by a local artist.
“Just being here and being a part of the art, and then being a part of the whole construction of getting the garden started from the ground up has really been awesome and life-changing,” Crosswell said. “I love the connections and the knowledge I'm gaining.”
How it works
Right now, warm-season crops are just being planted. Nine-year-old Ava Kamback is one of many volunteers helping to prepare the garden for its first summer.
“We pull up the weeds, we plant, and we make some mud balls,” she said. “It’s mud with seeds in the middle, and once it rains, the mud goes away and then the seeds go into the soil, and it plants wildflowers.”
Some plants that grow in colder weather and only take a few weeks are being harvested now.
Girl Scouts sampled freshly harvested chives on a recent visit.
“They were scrumptious, but very potent,” board member Chavah Granovetter said. “They actually were donated here during our plant swap that we had a few weeks back.”
The nonprofit hosts plant swaps and other community events. Some local groups will visit the lot regularly to maintain their garden beds.
“The Girl Scouts have an assigned bed, the Boy Scouts will have an assigned bed, and 4H will have an assigned bed,” Czerniakowski said.
The group is working to get a building put on the property for storage, restrooms and running water. Throughout the summer, a farmstand next to the garden on Frederick St. will offer free produce to the public.
“We're not going to have the public picking [produce],” she said. “So we'll pick when it's time to harvest… and then people are free to come and take whatever it is they need.”
What are they planting?
There are more than a dozen berry bushes in the garden, and an assortment of donated fruit trees will be planted soon.
Board members hope to plant a lot of tomatoes, a crop that is pricier this year due to a national shortage.
“We're hoping to do a lot of tomatoes,” Miller said. “But I think just putting as much as possible of everything in there, even like the really cool looking things that people don't normally think of or even see in the stores. We want to do a lot of that.”
“We're doing cucamelons… They look like teeny weeny watermelons,” Granovetter said. “We're doing spoon tomatoes, which are really, really tiny. You can fit about eight of them on a teaspoon. We're putting some fun stuff in with the practical. Just everyone needs more whimsy.”
Chavah’s eight-year-old son Chip Granovetter is most excited to grow yellow watermelon and share it with friends.
“It tastes like watermelon but like sweeter and better,” he said. “Everyone likes it better."
