By purchasing this item, you will be directly purchasing a fruit tree to be planted in a publicly-accessible space in Kirkwood/Edgewood!
Dream of an Edible Neighborhood. A place where fruit grows along the sidewalks to share the harvest. An Edible Neighborhood is a community where the neighbors plant perennial fruit in their front yards and sidewalks to share the harvest with others in their community.
This orchard will directly serve all neighbors living in the Edgewood/Kirkwood community by providing fresh, chemical-free, and affordable fruit to Unearthing Farm & Market— a new food initiative soon to be located on Memorial Drive providing equitable access to locally-grown and healthy food.
Our goal is to plant 100 trees on 25 sites by the end of February 2021. And we need your help!
You can participate in the Edible Neighborhood program in three primary ways:
- Purchase fruit tree for your front yard (click here)
- Donate a fruit tree for a neighbor or shared neighborhood space (click here)
- Volunteer or donate to cover the cost of maintaining the fruit tree (click here)
If you would like to set up a site assessment to determine if fruit trees are a good fit for your site or want to contact us, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/BMqx4QR1FaqXEHue6
Frequently Asked Questions:
What kind of trees can I get?
- Species available: fig, apple, pear, plum, and nectarine
- Trees are 4-5’ tall when planted
- They take approximately 3 years to bear fruit
What is the pricing?
- The first fruit tree in your yard is $75. This includes the tree, mulch, and labor.
- For every additional tree you purchase, your $50 will serve as a donation toward the project, allowing us to be able to plant a tree in a neighbor’s yard who cannot afford it or in a communal greenspace.
- You may also donate $50/year to help maintain the trees.
Why should I participate?
- When you purchase a fruit tree for this program, you are contributing directly back to your community, helping us create a more resilient and equitable local food system.
- You can pick fruit from the tree and we will harvest the remainder
- You will have access to other fruit in the neighborhood-wide orchard
- We take care of the yearly maintenance: mulching, pruning, and fertilizing
- Community Foodscapes has a record of success with trees they’ve planted having a survivorship rate between 95-100%
What are the requirements?
- Site must be located within either Kirkwood or Edgewood boundaries*
- Site must receive at least 4 hours of direct sunlight per day
- Site must either be accessible to the community - along the street or in front-yard
- We will place a sign/marker at each tree, so the public can identify and read about the program
- You must allow us to access the tree for maintenance and harvesting
- If you move away, you must tell the next resident that the tree is a part of our program
*If you received a Valentine’s postcard from us, your property is eligible.
How will the trees be maintained?
- Ideally, the resident will be responsible for watering their treese every 2 weeks
- Community foodscapes will mulch the trees 2x per year and prune the trees once every winter.
How will produce be distributed through the neighborhood?
- Excess fruit beyond what you can consume will be collected and sold at a community food stand (Unearthing Farm and Market) on Memorial Drive.
- Unearthing Farm and Market will operate under a pay-it-forward pay structure. An affordable price, comparable to Walmart, will be set for the excess fruit, and community members who can afford to pay extra will be encouraged to pay-it-forward to cover the cost of fruit for community members who may not be able to afford the asking price.
- A portion of excess fruit, which cannot be sold or distributed for free or nearly free, will be given to a local catering business, Affextionate Cuizine, to create value-added processed goods (think jams and fruit preserves) to be sold at Unearthing Market.