A few years from now, you could be picking your own apples and peaches in an urban orchard less than a mile from downtown.
The West Akron Neighborhood Organization is developing the orchard near Glendale Cemetery in collaboration with the city and Hattie Larlham, an organization that provides services to people with developmental disabilities.
Besides producing food, the orchard is intended to provide training and work for disabled people while putting a vacant lot to good use, said Karen Edwards, the neighborhood organization’s vice president. She’s also an avid gardener who founded the kids gardening program City Sprouts.
More than two-dozen trees are being donated, but the organization is trying to raise $5,000 for expenses including supplies, additional plants and the construction of a fence and shed. As of earlier this week, a Go Fund Me account had brought in $790 in individual donations ranging from $10 to $100.
Edwards, who heads the West Hill Neighborhood Organization’s green committee, got the idea for the orchard when the organization was given the opportunity to obtain the 250-foot-deep lot on South Maple Street between Glendale Avenue and Crosby Street. There wasn’t a need for another community garden in the area, she said, but it struck her that city dwellers might benefit from a place nearby where they could pick their own fruit at a nominal cost.
Workers from Hattie’s Gardens, an arm of Hattie Larlham, are expected to run the operation, said Zac Rheinberger, director of food operations. While the financial details haven’t been worked out, “we definitely think it’s something we can be involved in,” he said.
The workers will be part of the crew that already tends an urban farm site at the Akron Zoo, he said.
The fact that Hattie’s already operates a food-processing facility called Hattie’s Food Hub is a bonus, Edwards said. She said fruit that drops from the trees and can’t be sold whole can be processed at the food hub into products such as applesauce or jelly.
But the orchard will be more than just a source of food. It’s also meant to be an attractive asset in the neighborhood, thanks in large part to the artistry of 10 teenagers who are part of the city’s Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience.
The teens, all students at Akron public schools or residents of the school district, are creating a gate that will serve as the entryway to the orchard. Working under the direction of artist and teacher Steve Csejtey, the students were constructing the 6-by-10-foot steel gate this week using a laser cutter, a grinder, welding equipment and other tools, said Klair Heestand, Summer Arts Experience program coordinator.
The gate has a forest-scene design, which the students developed together. The final design was chosen with input from a panel of that included neighbors and members of the West Hill organization, Heestand said.
The gate will be installed with a stockade fence that Edwards said is intended to protect the orchard from vandalism.
The neighborhood organization is buying the parcel from the Summit County Land Bank, which typically acquires tax-delinquent properties through an expedited tax foreclosure process. It then sells those parcels to people who will make good use of them, said Patrick Bravo, the land bank’s executive director.
The price has not been finalized, because the lot is being split with a neighbor. But the parcel is expected to cost the organization less than $1,400, he said.
The city of Akron is providing 28 trees as part of its commitment to plant two trees for every one removed during the Akron Waterways Renewed sewer project.
Eight more trees are being purchased. Altogether, there will be four each of apple, apricot, Asian pear, peach, plum, cherry, almond, chestnut and pawpaw trees, Edwards said.
She said the trees will be planted starting in mid-September, after Hattie’s Gardens workers finish soil preparation.
Blueberries, strawberries and black raspberries will also be planted, Edwards said, and she’s hoping to create a pollinator garden out front.
The orchard will allow the employees of Hattie’s Gardens to learn to care for entirely new types of plants, Rheinberger said. The workers will also be highly visible to the community, which helps break down misconceptions about people with disabilities and their ability to be productive, he said.
Rheinberger especially likes what the orchard represents to Akron: a focus on the future.
“It’s really an investment in the neighborhood and the community,” he said.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MBBreckABJ, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckABJ and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.