Have you ever wanted to start a garden but thought it was too difficult? At The Refuge Food Forest in the small town of Normal in Illinois, the Illinois University Extension help the local community make gardening fun and hassle free. The Food Forest contains trees and shrubs that are food producing. A harvest from the community supported food forest includes apples, pears and berries and also unique picks like pawpaw and currants.
On the last day of our ag tour we visited The Refuge Food Forest. When we arrived we explored the food forest and saw how some fruits and berries were grown. When we first learned what the food forest grew most of the group had never heard of a pawpaw. As we were exploring, we learned that Paw paws are the fruit of the Asimina triloba tree, which is native to the eastern United States and southern Canada. They’re the largest edible fruit native to North America and have a sweet, tropical taste.
According to an article written by Nick Frillman, "In 2015, the University of Illinois Extension in Bloomington partnered with the Town of Normal and the Savannah Institute, an agroforestry & perennial agriculture non-profit, to create the space with the following goals:
Develop and maintain a site focused on food access available for all community members, dawn to dusk.
Offer community education in an outdoor living classroom. Topics include mushroom cultivation strategies, growing fruit (perennial crop cultivation), and general land management.
Offer a green space that encourages collaboration between community partners."
In order to maintain this community garden there are monthly guided work and harvest days, hosted by Nick Frillman, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Extension Educator, members of the community can join in an afternoon of weeding, mulching, or trimming. By hosting these guided work days I think it keeps gardening fun and not intimidating.
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