Community improvement ideas for Richmond, Indiana, USA

Create an Annual Richmond, IN  Edible Cityscape Event:  Plant Apple, Peach or other fruit trees!!!

Have a local non-profit such as Trees Forever or Sierra Club host a one hour workshop on "How to Plant and Care for Fruit Trees."   Have the non-profit purchase Fruit Trees at wholesale (approximately $7 each for good sized trees).  Sell the trees as a fundraiser in conjunction with the planting workshop for $15 each.

 

Solicit donations from corporations, individuals, foundations as sponsors to ensure some trees are available for free as well as  ensuring a profitable fund raiser!

 

Encourage everyone to plant at least two trees and to share harvests with neighbors and friends.

 

Trees to consider:  Honeycrisp Apples , Elberta Queen Peaches, Cherry, Linden trees and Mountain Ash -- all useful and edible species.  Make free trees available for non-profit organizations. 

 

If people don't have a place for a tree, encourage them to adopt a tree!  They can be part of a community orchard with picking privileges !
 

Trees are leafy umbrellas on hot Indiana summer days.  Trees are habitat for birds and bugs, all kinds!   Trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen for us all to breathe. Trees are hardy water reservoirs, purifying and transpiring up to 2,000 gallons/day that later falls as rain!   Trees make great windbreaks and can even help  reduce energy costs if placed properly on the land. And, they even have sweet treats......