Latest news with #fruittrees
CBC
26-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Pilot project introduces fresh fruit to Fredericton park
Social Sharing Fresh produce is an expensive commodity in this day and age, but a pilot project in Fredericton hopes to expand access to fresh fruit and other ingredients. The city's parks and trees department, along with kids from the multicultural centre, spent a day in June planting 30 skinny fruit trees in Wilmot Park, each inside a mulch circle with sunflower stalks on either side to protect the trees. While the trees might seem bare right now, Victoria Cray, an urban forest technician for the City of Fredericton, said she estimates the trees will start bearing fruit in five to seven years. "Fruit trees do take a little bit to get bigger, but after that, they'll be producing fruit for the rest of their life," she said. Cray said the trees came from Quebec, but the city hopes to start its own fruit trees by seed in the future. The trees include plums, pears, apples, cherries and mulberries. Along with the trees, the food forest includes some plants that were sourced from the Fredericton region such as borage, which has edible leaves that can be used in salads or dressings; chamomile, which can be used in teas or for medicinal uses; as well as poppy, oregano, thyme, chives and others. Cray said the project was relatively cost effective, with the most expensive thing being the trees, since the perennials — more than 100 of them — were all grown locally. "I think this is why it will work in the future, because especially with growing our own trees … we'll be cutting costs a lot," she said. Cray hopes that if given the go-ahead, she can expand the planting to the north side of Fredericton along some of the trails next year. The City of Saint John took on a similar project last year called the "blossom buffet," planting 43 fruit trees in Queen Square West using a $10,000 grant from Tree Canada. In Moncton, the city said it planted six cherry trees at the front steps of the Moncton Coliseum over the last couple of years as well as 32 arguta kiwi vines at the Ian Fowler Oval. At the Fredericton fruit forest, Cray hopes for more signage to be added in the future that will explain what's growing and that people should take what they need and leave some for others. The trees are small at the moment, said Cray, but as they grow, they can be pruned as big or small as you want them. She said the department hopes to keep them relatively small so people of all ages can pick from them. Cray said there's another benefit to having small trees. "A smaller tree … has more time to establish and have a better system for the future," she said.
BBC News
19-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
The urban orchard cooling London during heatwaves
Turn off the busy, hectic, Cable Street in Tower Hamlets, walk through the estate, turn a corner and you are suddenly in the middle of lots and lots of fruit is an orchard of fifty trees of apples, quinces, plums, pears, cherries and crab apples, and it is right in the middle of St George's was planted in 2013 by the charity Trees for Ford, who lives in the nearby tower block, remembers seeing the trees being planted. Soon he was involved in watering them and became one of a very small number of people who look after the orchards. Jim Ford, who lives in the nearby tower block, remembers seeing the trees being planted. Soon he was involved in watering them and became one of a very small number of people who look after the orchards."It's very popular, especially when the fruit comes out - it's even more popular then," he said."We don't actually get to see a lot of the fruit. We love the fact it's an open space, a community space. We get people from outside who see there's some fruit, they'll take the fruit. It's fine, that's what it's there for to be eaten. ""The trees cool the area. Just walk around here and it's a much cooler area than Cable Street or the Highway. In this environment you wouldn't know it's there." London's warming and its trees and their shade help cool the climate although the heatwaves themselves can put native species under Council has also warned people not to sit or congregate under large trees after a rise in the number of falling says there has been an increase of Sudden Branch Drop Syndrome which it says has been made worse by the at the charity Trees for Cities are expecting to see an increase in trees dying or dropping branches as the climate Sadiq Khan plans to increase London's canopy by 10% by 2050. The orchard scheme is seen as a blueprint with other estates now copying the idea. Emma Peet from the charity Trees for Cities said planting in inner London was particularly important."London does have eight million trees but they are not distributed evenly across the city," she said."Tower Hamlets where we are now has only about 8 to 10% canopy coverage but because of this orchard in this estate, it has risen to 19% tree cover. "Making urban forests more equitable and more accessible for communities is all part of it."She added: "Urban forests bring so many benefits from shade on a hot day, biodiversity and the air feels cleaner. It also is an important communal space."
SBS Australia
15-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- SBS Australia
'I treat them like family': Meet Filipino creator grows his own food in Sydney backyard
Content creator and IT professional Mannix Lizardo shared that his love for climbing trees as a child sparked his passion for gardening. So when he bought his own home in Sydney, he began planting fruit trees and vegetables in the backyard—with the help of his wife and children. Aside from travel and lifestyle, his content features his homegrown produce, including malunggay, calamansi, avocado, guava, bananas, and a variety of vegetables. Mannix admits there's a unique joy in tasting the fruits of his labour—and even more so in knowing that his garden inspires his viewers. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST SBS Filipino 15/07/2025 15:53 Filipino Mannix Lizardo has a papaya tree thriving in his backyard. Credit: Mannix Lizardo In Mannix Lizardo's backyard stands a healthy guava tree. Credit: Mannix Lizardo A banana plant grows in Mannix Lizardo's backyard. Credit: Mannix Lizardo Mannix's wife works alongside him in growing and caring for the fruits and vegetables in their backyard. Their children also lend a hand whenever needed. Credit: Mannix Lizardo 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
BBC News
14-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
March community orchard in people's own front gardens
A group that could not find the right land for a community orchard is offering free trees for people to grow in their front gardens - for the use of Wilson, from March Community Orchard - a Cambridgeshire initiative - said people could ask for a free apple, pear or plum tree from the said they must have appropriate space in their front garden, as the hope was once they had taken the fruit they needed, others in the town could collect it for themselves - again, for varieties the group is offering are self-pollinating and should begin to crop in about a year or two, she said. The Front Garden Fruit Project has just been launched in the Fenland town, but already about 20 people have asked for a tree, said Ms Wilson. "We've tried to set up a community orchard for some time but we had trouble securing land so we've come up with a new idea - a bit of a hybrid community orchard - where we are offering free fruit trees to March residents and in return they give us a bit of space to plant it in their front garden," she said."Eventually we're hoping that once the fruit trees are laden with fruit, that they might share some of this with the community."The varieties on offer "don't need a pollination partner and are very disease-resistant and tend to be very heavy-cropping varieties", said Ms could take one or two years before the trees produce fruit, but "in future years when you have many, many apples and pears and plums - and you've had enough crumbles - people who've been beneficiaries of the project might be willing to share a crate with the community".Ms Wilson said the project was bearing the cost of the trees with help from other charity grants, which come in at about £18 each, and the group would help with planting and provide free crates once the trees the future, the group hopes to create a map so the local community can see where to collect fruit for free. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
ABC News
04-07-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Five winter jobs to do in the garden
Do you think there's not much to do in the edible garden over winter? I used to feel the same, but I've come to love this quieter season. As growth in my veggie patch slows to a crawl, it's the perfect time to tackle slower, behind-the-scenes jobs that make a big difference come spring. Here are five jobs I'm prioritising this season for my backyard permaculture patch, within the temperate climate zone of Tarntanya/Adelaide. You can check your zone using Gardening Australia's online map, which also provides month-by-month planting guides for your area. Weeds inevitably pop up after winter rains, but instead of waging war on them, I work with them. Many common weeds are nutrient-rich and can be pulled up to feed my compost, or even myself. Stinging nettle, for example, is my favourite winter weed. I love to: I also use strategies to help naturally suppress weeds. I've created natural barriers on garden paths using thick layers of overlapping cardboard (sourced free from local businesses), topped with about 4cm of bark mulch. This blocks sunlight and smothers weeds. In other spots, I grow edible groundcovers such as marjoram, thyme, nasturtiums and warrigal greens for a living mulch barrier. Winter is prime pruning time in my garden. Within my mini food forest, deciduous fruit trees such as an apple, pear, nectarine and cherry drop their leaves, so it's easy to see their structure and give them a good clip-back. Pruning now encourages better fruiting come summer and makes harvesting easier too. It's a great time to try grafting, where you join different plant varieties onto the same rootstock. In my small garden, I'm hoping to add more pear varieties to my existing tree this winter. I also keep an eye out for self-seeded herb, flower or veggie seedlings that pop up in paths or garden beds. Rather than tossing them all in the compost, I'll pot a few up to share with friends and neighbours via my urban honesty stall — a lovely way to spread the winter abundance around. After all that pruning, I have plenty of material to feed my compost system. A quick spin through my small mulcher turns bulky branches into small pieces that break down more quickly. Then, to help build the heap more quickly, I do a bit of urban foraging. I collect spent coffee grounds from a local cafe for nitrogen and gather the last of any fallen autumn leaves from nearby deciduous street trees for carbon. Layered together, the two help keep my compost balanced. As the weather cools, compost can slow down, so I give mine a turn once or twice in winter to keep it active. I use a spiral compost turner rather than a shovel — it's quicker and easier on my back. All this helps ensure plentiful homemade compost to use when spring planting rolls around. The cooler months are ideal for recharging soil, ready for the big warm-season harvests ahead. I refresh the no-dig layers in my veggie beds with alternating additions of carbon and nitrogen, such as compost, straw, activated biochar, manure and organic fertiliser. From mid-winter onwards, I start thinking about warm-weather plantings and start seeds indoors to get a jump on spring planting, especially heat-loving plants such as tomatoes and capsicums. I don't have any fancy seed-raising gear, so I start seeds in pots indoors where it's warmer. Once they sprout, I shift them to a sunny north-facing kitchen windowsill. After a few weeks, once they've formed their true leaves, I move the pots outside daily to help them adjust — a process called "hardening off". The slower pace of winter gardening offers a chance to step back and consider what worked, what didn't and what might need tweaking for next season — a great way to practically apply the permaculture principle "apply self-regulation and accept feedback". I pay particular attention to anything I grew but didn't eat much of, or any giant harvests that overwhelmed me, meaning food went to waste. This helps me understand what I should plant less of or simply stop growing. Continually tweaking my plant list to prioritise food I actually like helps me to eat from my garden more consistently. By focusing on these simple winter jobs, I set myself up for a garden that gradually grows healthier and more abundant next season. Koren Helbig is a sustainable city living educator who practices permaculture and grows organic food in the backyard of her small urban Tarntanya (Adelaide) home.
