Madison Fruits and Nuts

...because Madison needs more of both

Michelle, Jason, and Nicole from Community Action Coalition digging a hole for a fruit tree at Wingra Park, one of the three area sites to win a free orchard.

Madison Fruits and Nuts is a new group that encourages planting and harvesting of fruits and nuts in Madison, Wisconsin. Free, fresh, local food!

Congratulations to three area groups which won a free orchard! Madison is the only metropolitan area in the US to win at 3 sites; a total of 25 sites were winners in the contest. Having multiple sites diluted our voting, so considering that we won any shows there's a strong interest here!

The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation awarded trees for Bock Community Garden, Eagle Heights Community Garden, and Wingra Park.

You can now view and possibly add to a map of fruits and nuts in Madison!

If you have a gmail account, you can add new sites... here's how. Sign in to your account using the "Sign In" link in the upper right part of the window. At that point you should have an "Edit" button next to the map. Click the "Edit" button and you will be able to add place markers to the map and associate a title and description. In the description section include whether the fruit tree or shrub is public or private and, if private, include details of what the owner is offering.

Good news! Volunteers will be allowed to plant edible landscaping in city parks! Check out the media coverage around mid-July (below) and on our facebook page Yum! Madison Wants Public Fruit Trees.

Please contact us at madisonfruitsandnuts@gmail.com if you would like to be on our email list.

We'll be initiating other fruity/nutty projects. Here are a few ideas:

• Offering orchard planning workshops.
• Offering pruning workshops.
• Providing (or linking to) educational materials about planting, pruning, and caring for a tree organically, likely on this website.

We're looking for help with the above. Contact us if you'd like to help!

Here are some documents of interest to people planning edible landscaping.

• Spreadsheet of Varieties approved at the City's Habitat Stewardship Committee meeting in March, 2010.
• Edible Landscaping Memorandum of Understanding approved at the City's Park Commission meeting in July, 2010.
• Flower and Edible Landscaping Garden Application form suggested by Madison Fruits and Nuts, a modified version of the city's Flower Garden Application form. The highlighted green text was added, and the red text will be removed from the city's form.
• Some examples of Urban Edible Landscaping, Orchards, and Fruiting Street Trees in the U.S.

Here is some media coverage for more background info, most recent first:

• 15-Jul-2010 Channel 3 story entitled "'Edible Landscaping' To Come To Madison Parks".
• 14-Jul-2010 Channel 3 story entitled "City Requirements Might Stall 'Edible Landscaping' At Madison Parks". Video features the Jessica Bullen Orchard.
• 13-Jul-2010 Channel 3 editorial by Neil Heinen declares "Parks Department requirements unnecessary".
• 13-Jul-2010 Cap Times article by Pat Schneider entitled "Will city's red tape, fees bury public fruit trees in Madison?".
• 11-Jul-2010 Wisconsin State Journal article by George Hesselberg about the five sites in the national competition for an orchard.
• 21-Jun-2010 Cap Times opinion column entitled "Remove ridiculous barriers to public fruit trees" by Margaret Krome.
• 7-May-2010 Cap Times article announces the first group to win an orchard.
• 25-Mar-2010 Isthmus article updating folks about Madison Fruits and Nuts.
• 8-Mar-2010 USA Today article about urban fruit, featuring a Madison orchard and Madisonians.
• 8-Feb-2010 Cap Times article that captures the essence of Madison Fruits and Nuts.

Thanks for checking us out. We know interest in this is strong! We've heard from many people, and the pruning workshop we co-sponsored in 2010 filled almost instantly.

P.S. Yes, we're working on a prettier website.