Established in 2016 with a grant from the Maryland Urban Community Forestry Committee, the Todd Park Food Forest lies on parkland owned by the City of Havre de Grace and is situated across the street from the Green Team’s Seneca Avenue Community Garden. Since the initial plantings in the fall of 2016 more trees and bushes have been added each year and include species such as serviceberry, blueberry, apple, peach, persimmon, pawpaw, fig, elderberry, and plum. In 2020 we won two grants, one from the Maryland Urban Community Forestry Committee for a sign at the Food Forest, and the other from Chesapeake Bay Trust to pilot permaculture beds to provide additional diversity in the Food Forest. In 2022 we won another MUCFC grant to install additional colorful and informative individual plant signs.
The vision for the Food Forest is for it to be planted and nurtured by members of the community. The community would have access to the plantings to observe and learn from them season after season, and they would also be able to harvest the edible produce when the plants mature. The Food Forest was planted with sustainability in mind. It is an ongoing source of fruit, nuts, berries and other plants that add to and do not deplete the earth’s natural resources. The plantings provide habitat for other species, including pollinators that are essential to our food system. The Food Forest also contributes to the environment by adding to the forest canopy, an important step in addressing global warming, and to enhancing the green cover of the land for watershed management.
The Food Forest is maintained by volunteers participating in our adopt-a-tree program, in which trees and bushes are assigned to individuals who care for them. Under the guidance of a forest leader, the adopters weed, water, and mulch the plants. Adopters and the community at large are invited to occasional workdays for installing new plants or performing other activities. Interested in helping? Contact us at hdggreenteam@gmail.com.
