The Chronicles Of Grant County

Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project

Cherries picked at Gough Park Orchard in Silver City. (The photograph was provided courtesy of Kendra Milligan, 2023.)

Would you enjoy fresh plums, apples, and peaches this Summer?

Area residents are welcomed to receive free fruits through the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project.

This civic initiative planted fruit trees in locations throughout Grant County to encourage people to eat nutritious food.

According to a statement from the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project, this community initiative "…was started by the Grant County Community Health Council. They received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson's Foundation Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Grant to address the issues of healthy food and activities."

"The original idea was for forming a project or group to glean – to harvest after the regular gatherers," the statement continued, "…getting the leftovers and finding a use for said fruit."

The statement noted that with funds from Wells Fargo, the then Southwest New Mexico United Way, and Grant County Community Health Council, the organization planted 200 fruit trees – "…all from Country Girl Nursery – the only facility willing to supply us with the number of trees we wanted and varieties for our region."

"The first orchard [was planted] at Sixth Street Elementary School (2015)," the statement from the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project continued. "We prioritized schools and public land for the orchards – for accessibility and water availability. We also decided that for every orchard planted in Silver City, we would plant an orchard in other locations for equitable accessibility in outlying Grant County."

Neighborhood orchards have since been planted by the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project at additional locations throughout the area, including at Harrison Schmitt Elementary School, Community Built Penny Park, San Lorenzo Elementary School, El Grito Head Start Program, Central Park in Santa Clara, Hurley Elementary School, Jose Barrios Elementary School, and Silver City Recreation Center, among other sites.

The Gough Park Orchard is, according to the statement from the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project, "…our crowning jewel behind what was the Office of Sustainability on East 11th Street and North Main Street. The orchard was designed to have fruit available from early-Summer cherries to late-Autumn apples."

This specific orchard is the largest of the area orchards, noted the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project, "…with 16 trees – cherries, plums, apples, apricots, and peaches; all varieties selected were recommended by the New Mexico State University Extension Service's Science Center. The orchard is located on Town of Silver City property made available through a partnership with the then Office of Sustainability…The orchard also includes milkweed for monarch butterflies and we have had people that raise monarchs come and harvest milkweed to feed their butterflies."

These efforts in Silver City and beyond have been made possible through more than $15,000 in grant funds and 3,000 volunteer hours, according to the organization.

In addition to the funding sources noted, a number of local businesses and individuals helped made the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project possible, including Stream Dynamics; the Youth Conservation Corps at Aldo Leopold Charter School; Lone Mountain Natives, supplier of native plants; and Dr. Richard Stephen Felger, an ethnobotanist, who supplied native grasses for the orchard; among others.

"This year we had our first bumper crop of cherries, with all three cherry trees producing (that hasn't happened before)," according to the statement from the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project. "The plums should be coming in during mid-June. Last year we had a bumper crop of peaches and apples, but someone stripped the trees in the night before the fruit was even viable – or able to ripen."

With that in mind, the Grant County Neighborhood Orchards Project stated that "the community is urged to pick fruit as it ripens, only please remain respectful of the amount you harvest so others may enjoy the bounty."

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© 2023 Richard McDonough