@fruittreeplantingfoundation

"The orchard will provide nutritional and affordable food for residents. The orchard will also be located at a site that complements the water reuse goals of the community's Vision Plan and captures rainwater before it enters into the sewer system. The orchard will also address soil contamination challenges faced in the neighborhood." These are the words from the original application submitted to us from the Larimer Consensus Group, whose vision was to plant an orchard on two empty lots to kick off what would eventually become a thriving community garden and education center. Last year we began that vision with an initial planting of 15 fruit trees and today the orchard was completed with 12 more. Additionally, a local landscape architect created art installations that will double as rain catchment systems for the orchard and garden. The entire space is now a living, beautiful reminder of the hope and food that will grow here for decades. Thank you to all the amazing volunteers who helped plant and mulch the trees, put up a fence, and install the rain catchments! 🌳🍐

Not every tree makes it, and that’s okay! Sometimes something unexpected happens that harms an orchard, and we can use these opportunities to learn and grow. Like when rabbits inexplicably get into an orchard and munch through tree trunks causing those trees to fail. That’s what happened at Greenfield Elementary to a few trees, so today we gathered safely with students, parents, and faculty to plant 10 new fruit trees to replace those damaged by our furry friends and to expand the orchard as a bonus! We also added trees guards to the new and existing trees to protect them moving forward. This Greenfield Elementary school orchard is extra special, as it was planted last year in memory of the eleven people lost in the @treeoflifepgh tragedy in 2018. The orchard aims to honor their lives and inspire future generations here at Greenfield to live with kindness and compassion in their honor. Thank you to Mr. Pat Gallagher for being the orchard’s champion and making sure these trees survive and thrive for all of Greenfield and Pittsburgh for decades to come! 🌳🍏💚

Everyone deserves access to fresh food. Period. Fruit trees provide a source of healthy, fresh nutrition for food banks and food pantries to serve to families in need. That’s why, in addition the the orchard planted at @edenhallfarm yesterday for @pghfoodbank, we distributed an additional 80 fruit trees to their network of member agencies and community partners. This will grow the Food Bank’s ability to offer fresh fruit as part of their Green Grocer and meal distribution programs. Thank you again to @enterprise and @arbordayfoundation for making this project possible. Each of the trees planted will create 50lbs of fresh fruit annually for the greater Pittsburgh area for decades to come! 🍏🍐🍑🍒

A walk through the orchard at yesterday’s planting event at @chathamu’s @edenhallfarm with @pghfoodbank 🌳🍏🍐 video courtesy of FTPF board member @misir 🙏

A big shoutout to @arbordayfoundation and @enterprise for partnering with us today at @pghfoodbank! Working with food banks is one of the most direct ways in which we at the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation help make fresh, healthy food available to those who need it most. That’s why we are proud to have created an 80-tree orchard for @pghfoodbank at the @edenhallfarm of @chathamu. The Food Bank team has said one of the most requested items by their clients is fresh fruit, and in just a few short years and for decades to come, this orchard will provide hundreds of pounds of harvests each year. Thank you to all the volunteers who worked hard with us to install this orchard, including Chatham and Eden Hall students and faculty and the Food Bank team, and to all of those who share our passion for making fresh, healthy, sustainably grown foods accessible to all!

More bounty and words from Vel’s Purple Oasis, a community and youth garden in Cleveland—because we just can’t get enough! “A fruit orchard and vegetable garden in the middle of a struggling neighborhood that provides fresh, organic, delicious food for us; and its all free. Now we know, ‘You don't have to be wealthy to eat healthy.’ We love it!!" -Vel Scott, garden vice president

We love seeing how our orchard grant recipients make use of their bounty! Harvests from Vel’s Purple Oasis in Cleveland, Ohio are used in classes to teach kids how to cook with and enjoy fresh fruit. Vel Scott, namesake and vice president of the garden, wants neighborhood children to think of the orchard as their own, especially in their urban area with limited access to green and garden spaces. This approach has led to a thriving garden and 60lbs of fruit per tree each year! 👉 Swipe to see some awesome pie baking action 🍐

"In a time of great stress due to Covid 19, our community loves the fact that they are able to enjoy the outdoors safely while taking care of the trees, and hand picking their own fresh fruits. It has been a great mental exercise for the families in our community." -Etnairis Polanco of @icporlando’s urban farm and food pantry

We are excited to share this year’s success of the in El Salvador! Through our collaboration with @vitafusion, our team was able to safely plant and distribute more than 4,000 , including important cultural and native varieties such as the ojushte (breadnut), arrayán, icaco, , paterna (ice cream bean), mamon, and almendra de rio, to some of the most vulnerable regions in El Salvador. This project serves as an important model for sustainable food production and adaptation in Central America. With nearly 35% of Salvadorans living below the poverty line, fruit trees provide access to vital, perennial nutrition and income for families in need. Fruit trees also clean the air, sequester carbon emissions, and protect the soil from erosion in a country fighting the second highest rate of deforestation in the region. We cannot thank our partners at CONFRAS and SHARE El Salvador enough for their tireless work in the face of a global pandemic to deliver thousands of trees to dozens of communities. We also want to give a HUGE thanks to our friends at @vitafusion, who have supported not only this year’s project in El Salvador but also the planting of 200,000 fruit trees around the world with us over the past four years. And lastly, to all our supporters who continue to believe in a fruitful future for Salvadoran families!

In addition to 12 trees planted with FTPF in 2017, the Duvall Food Forest has planted an additional 20 fruit trees plus 70 fruiting shrubs! One of the community gardeners told Jeff Davis, founder of the food forest, “This place is my sacred space.”

“Along with fantastic fruit tree seedlings, the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation offered us wonderful knowledge and planting assistance. Two years later and our young orchard is thriving!” —Cale Nicholson, Farm Manager at Apple Seeds, Inc in Fayetteville, AR

“Having a fruit orchard is important for our community, for education on how food grows, and for our next generation to have a spot of their own to collect fruit from.” -Lee Ruffino, Director of Seventh Generation Elijah Elk Cultural Program of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan