Did you know that cherry trees can grow in Northern Ontario? Not all cherry trees can, but Juliet variety cherries can grow and thrive in Sudbury soil.
On June 10, one of these trees was planted in the grounds of the Twin Forks Community Garden in partnership with the Sudbury Horticultural Society and support from Sudbury Shared Harvest.
“Every year the Horticultural Society likes to support other horticultural activities in the city,” said Wayne Hugli, president of the Sudbury Horticultural Society.
“We usually support at least one school project and then we try to support some other ones, like community gardens. And so this year we donated a cherry tree to be planted here because this is the year of the garden.”
“The Year of the Garden” is an initiative coined by The Canadian Garden Council. It aims to inspire and inform Canadians about the economic, environmental and many other benefits that gardening provides.
The Canadian Garden Council suggested planting a red plant this year as one of the activities for the Sudbury Horticultural Society.
Long-time member and volunteer Laura Foreshew suggested planting cherry trees. Foreshew had seen success with growing cherry trees in her own garden and made the generous donation of two cherry trees for communities here in Sudbury.
“We're really excited to be able to support another community project,” Hugli said.
The Horticultural Society had previously worked with the Twin Forks Community Garden in planting fruit trees in the past. A few years back they contributed to planting plum trees for the community organization.
The trees, as well as other agricultural plant beds, will be able to provide produce for the Sudbury community in true backyard-gardening style.
“So we are a benevolent garden, which means that it's all community driven, community led community volunteers, and we welcome anybody in the neighborhood to come and pick, especially if they are families in need,” Rachelle Niemela, lead volunteer at the Twin Forks Community Garden, told Sudbury.com. “And any extras at the end of the year are donated to the food bank. So it's for the community by the community.”
The Twin Forks garden initially started off as a couple of plant beds in 2012, and has grown to a prosperous and thriving mini food forest in 2022. The community garden continues to grow and educate those in the Sudbury community on plant care and gardening for anyone to delve into in their own backyards.
