New orchard takes root in Riverview

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2016 (3406 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the steady drizzle of Sun., June 26, a group of people planted trees and bushes. They filled and hauled wheelbarrows with wood chips, which they carefully placed around the newly planted vegetation, topping them off with a thin layer of flax.

These volunteers included people from the South Osborne community, university students and members of the Sustainable South Osborne Community Cooperative, a group which promotes local food production and care of the earth, among other altruistic goals.

True Canada, an organization funded by companies and other entities that has planted more than 80 million trees since 1992,  awarded one of 20 available nationwide grants to Sustainable South Osborne. The grant required edible trees and bushes be planted.

Three weeks before planting day, volunteers cleared and tilled the field. After planting the small bushes and trees, wood chips cut from trees in the area were added. The chips hold moisture, keep weeds away from the plants and increase bio-diversity or nutrients to the soil. By 2021, the wood chips will have become soil.

Saskatoons, wild plums, hazelnuts, nanny berries, wild currants and wild grapes have replaced the burdock and bushes that filled the sheltered area sitting at the bottom of a slope near Churchill Drive and Baltimore Road. At least 60 edible plants now form a little orchard known as the South Osborne River Garden, one of a number of community gardens in the Riverview and Lord Roberts area.

After emptying a shovelful of wood chips into a nearby wheelbarrow, Barbara Ediger, president of Sustainable South Osborne Community Cooperative, which organizes gardening activities in the South Osborne area said, “We encourage people to come out and visit the gardens and pick weeds.

“Hands-on is the best way to learn.”

For more information, visit www.SouthOsborneCommons.ca

Dianne Doney is a community correspondent for Fort Rouge. You can contact her at diannemary@hotmail.com