Ledyard — The Groton Open Space Association will receive a $614,250 state grant toward the purchase of 166.7-acre parcel in Ledyard known as the Lamb Farm.

The award was among $6 million in grants announced for 17 communities statewide by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday.

The grants will help purchases 949 acres of open space across the state, and help three cities establish or develop community gardens and support environmental education in a fourth city.

The Ledyard parcel abuts land purchased with state grant funds in 2014. It will become part of a continuous preserve of about 600 acres, according to a news release from Malloy’s office.

The property drains into Groton Utilities’ Ledyard Reservoir, and also into Haley Brook. It has been farmed for more than 300 years and will continue as a farm, according to the news release.

In addition to farm fields, the property also includes grasslands, early successional forest, oak-hemlock-hickory forest, and Atlantic white cedar swamp, forested peat lands, vernal pools and a 38-acre marsh-bog.

The grants were awarded through the Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition program, which is administered by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.