On Sunday, February 26th a group of 20+ Fruit Nutz arrived at the West Asheville Park to maintain the Edible Planting on the hillside just beyond the outfield of the baseball diamond.  We were greeted by healthy trees, a warm breeze and shining sun.  What a beautiful day to move some mulch!!

There is a wonderful diversity of fruit and nuts at the site including; hazelnuts, mulberry, peach, paw paw, elderberry, strawberries and a smattering of pollinators plants tucked into the beds.  There are some freshly painted signs made by students at Rainbow Mountain that look absolutely fantastic.  If you have yet to see this site, get on over and check it out!


We played a number of games throughout the day including; move the mulch, pull the weeds, transplant the strawberries, and or course HAYRIDING!!!!  If you have yet to experience hay riding, it is a climate change activity that can be done in place or sleigh riding.  All you will need is a piece of cardboard, a grassy hillside, and a friend to push you.

After the fun and games it was time for a little teaching session on water, a prevailing topic at this site.  The Club is in the process of working with the city to gain approval to implement a rain garden and swale that will capture and divert the water that is currently rushing down Morris St and eroding the hillside that leads into the park.   Sherry Ingram taught the group about the importance of capturing rain water and allowing it to percolate into the soil and provide much needed moisture to plants and trees.  Urban areas tend to use storm drains to divert water directly into streams and rivers which can cause  many problems such as flooding and pollution of waterways.  Bill Whipple then presented his plan on how to implement the rain garden and swale.  Dylan Ryals-Hamilton then taught the group how to use an A-Frame Level (Permometer) to find the contour of the land and flag out the projected path of the swale.

After getting our learn on we had to get right back to what this group is becoming famous for, having a good time.  So with cardboard in hand we hiked to the top of the hill for another round of hay riding.  What a day!  After we gathered up our tools and wished the plants farewell we headed over to Ramin's house for an after event potluck and scion swap.  Another wildly succesful Fruit Nut's Event for the record books.

We even had some press coverage for this one!  To see the article in the Mountain express follow the link:

http://mountainx.com/article/40739/Volunteers-working-with-Asheville-city-staff-on-runoff-in-park#