Madison Fruits and Nuts

...because Madison needs more of both

Apples like this locally grown organic Jonafree will not be on the initial list of list of approved trees.

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

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. It took three public city meetings and over 100 letters/testimonials, but reason prevailed! Thanks for everyone's help!

Congratulations to three of the five area groups which won a free orchard! The Madison area was one of the few to have multiple entries -- which diluted our voting -- so considering that we won any shows there's a strong interest here! The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation will be awarding trees and training to be planted in Bock Community Garden, Eagle Heights Community Garden, and Wingra Park.

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:

• Mapping out where existing fruit trees live, maybe using Google maps.
• Offering pruning workshops.
• Advocate for fruit trees as street trees, as they are in Portland, OR.
• 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.
• Edible Landscaping Garden Application form suggested by Madison Fruits and Nuts, and closely modeled after the city's Flower Garden Application 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.