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Food is free for the taking at floating ‘forest’ in NYC

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Swale garden is an old construction barge planted with vegetables, apple trees and fragrant herbs that gives New Yorkers a chance to pick their own dinners.

NEW YORK >> An old construction barge planted with vegetables, apple trees and fragrant herbs is giving New Yorkers chance to pick something and eat it.

The barge is called Swale and is currently docked in the Bronx and will move to Hudson River Park in lower Manhattan next month.

Founder Mary Mattingly created Swale in part so that New Yorkers could forage for food, which is illegal throughout the city’s 30,000 acres of public parks.

The no-foraging rule doesn’t apply to Swale, since it’s a barge. The food there is free.

Swale was launched in 2016 with funding from Kickstarter and a nonprofit called A Blade of Grass.

The hard cider company Strongbow is providing additional support this year including a donated “orchard” of eight apple trees.

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