Phase 2 of a so-called "community food forest" was set in motion yesterday at the Delki Dozzi Park. Many local residents joined in to get their hands dirty and plant trees that will eventually bear fruits of their hard work.
From a distance, the Delki Dozzi park seems like a patch of green on a slope, with a dozen raised flatbeds and some saplings. However, with continued efforts from the Sudbury Shared harvest and local residents, it is all set to become a food forest, in time.
Carrie Regenstreif, volunteer project co-ordinator for Sudbury Shared Harvest, could be seen among the volunteers planting trees, laying cardboard near the newly planted trees.
“The cardboard helps keep the weed out,” Regenstreif, explained.
“We are trying to plant over 8,000 sq. feet of perennial food and the idea is that as it starts to grow, it will need less and less maintenance,” Regenstreif said.
She had originally heard about a food forest in Seattle, Washington, and she hoped to mimic something similar for the Sudbury community.
“As part of Phase 2, we are planting raspberries, which are new this year, strawberries, pink currant, haskap berries, and some herbs. In Phase 1 we planted over 4,000 sq feet with apple, pear, plums, so this is just a continuation,” Regenstreif said.
Almost every crop is edible or, if not, plays a role in supporting the forest.
“We have planted some 10 – 12 different types of wildflowers to attract the bees, the pollinators,” Regenstreif said.
The key to a thriving food forest, as Regenstreif explains, is the planning to grow plants that would eventually require minimal human intervention and can be fertilized naturally.
“The whole point of food forest as opposed to a community garden is that it will become eventually become self-maintaining. It is meant to mimic a forest, with different layers that work together,” Regenstreif said.
Growing a food forest is no simple task, as it included bringing in experts who had either developed similar projects elsewhere in the province or had a vast array of knowledge in fruit trees to expert gardeners.
“It was months of planning, understanding the nature of everything we planted and how they would react in combination to other plants or trees. It was a lot of going back and forth, and then we finally narrowed our selection,” Regenstreif said.
Once at its peak local residents will be able to help themselves with a variety of fresh fruits.
“The idea is that everyone will help themselves and through that more people might want to get involved in the maintenance part of it,” Regenstreif said
Check out some of the planters in action in the photo gallery above.
