Sudbury group wins $10K to plant edible forest in downtown core

A group is getting ready to create and plant an edible forest garden in downtown Sudbury after receiving a $10,000 boost.

Sudbury Shared Harvest received the funding from The Aviva Community Fund.

"We are really excited about this project," Sudbury Shared Harvest chair Anthony Machum said.

"Not only will it enable us to plant another edible forest garden, but we also see it as a kickstart for our long-term vision."

Two years ago, the group created its first edible forest garden at Delki Dozzi Park. Carrie Regenstreif with the program says the downtown garden will be a smaller version.

"The idea is to plant fruit trees, berries and other edible plants," she said.

"It's planned very carefully so that you're conserving water and making it as low maintenance as possible in the future."

She says it will take time for the garden to get established.

"This year, the Delki Dozzi garden that we started planting in 2017, we had a few things that we were able to start harvesting this year," she said.

"A few strawberries and a few gooseberries. Other things like apples will take four or five years."

The group hopes to eventually start similar projects, with a goal to eventually have one in each ward of the city.