On Saturday, September 22nd beginning at 10AM volunteers and trustees of the non-profit group Sustainable Aquidneck will plant the major trees of the first community food forest on Aquidneck Island. Volunteers are now being sought to join in the Food Forest planting day at the Farm and are invited to become an ongoing part of building a community treasure of local food.

 “This is a great way to learn generally about Island Community Farms and especially about permaculture food forests,” said Meredith Spitalnik, Sustainable Aquidneck trustee.

Volunteers will help prepare the ground and plant a diversity of fruit trees, shrubs and cover crops. Selected species include Persimmon, Asian Pear, Pawpaw, Goji Berry, Alpine Strawberry, Blueberry, Hardy Kiwi, Jujube and Gooseberry on the half acre site. In addition to plantings, volunteers will assist in spreading mulch on pathways, plant fall-blooming crocuses, and help with clearing along the stone wall border. Volunteers are encouraged to wear layered clothing and bring hat, gloves, drinking water and shovels. 

The Permaculture Food Forest is one of several local farming and gardening projects being developed at Island Community Farms, an 8 acre community farm venture launched by Sustainable Aquidneck. The land, owned by the Aquidneck Land Trust has been leased to Sustainable Aquidneck for five years.  

Island Community Farms offers local gardeners and growers access to land otherwise too costly as well as providing the support and infrastructure required to restore soil to productivity without damaging the island’s watershed. The farm is located off of Elizabeth Lane just off the east end of Green End Avenue.

What is a Food Forest? A Food Forest, or Forest Garden, is a concrete example of Permaculture. 

What is Permaculture? Permaculture, a word evoking permanent agriculture, is a growing philosophy of ecological design that emphasizes that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and encompasses not only the "cash crops" - food, medicine and beauty, but the needs of those crops, by encouraging the presence of beneficial insects, and the planting of other plants that support them. A Permaculture system is self-sustaining and renewable rather than consumptive, taking advantage of nature's systems, and improving rather than degrading over time. 

"The yield of the system is limited by our imagination....” - Bill Mollison, founder of permaculture

Find the event page on FACEBOOK here: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/460314614000172/