Sudbury Shared Harvest and Science North have a tasty partnership in the works. They are pairing up to establish a community food forest on the grounds of the science centre.
Food forests contain fruit trees and shrubs, other perennial, edible plants and some non-edible flowering perennials to attract pollinating insects. The new food forest at Science North will only include native wildflower species, because they are so important to the survival of pollinator populations, the groups said in a news release.
“Planting and maintaining food forests are learning opportunities rather than just volunteer work, so this fits perfectly at Science North,” says Carrie Regenstreif, executive director of Sudbury Shared Harvest. “We’re really excited to bring our experience with food forests to work with Science North, which has such a wide reach in the community and a great reputation for exciting projects.”
High school students were to kick off some of the planting on May 31, as part of Science North’s Youth Climate Summit.
Members of the public are invited to participate in planting the rest on June 10, starting at 10 a.m.. People are encouraged to bring the whole family, because there will also be some fun activities for kids.
The event is free, but people wishing to participate are asked to pre-register to help organizers plan more easily. A link for registration can be found here.
“Sudbury Shared Harvest began working with volunteers to establish food forests on public properties in 2017. The first one, at Delki Dozzi, is also the largest by far at about 8,000 square feet. The one at Science North will be approximately 1,600 square feet.”
Sudbury Shared Harvest is on track to achieve its goal of establishing at least one food forest in each of the city’s wards by 2026, with eight others already started across the city.
