West Ashley becomes home to the state’s first food forest
by Joan Perry | Contributing Writer
There is nothing as delicious as biting into ripe fruit handpicked from a tree. Nothing.
I picked fruit one summer as a teenager and remember it like it was yesterday. Perched on a ladder at the top of a tree, I reached for the highest, most perfect peach. The sky was blue, the air was fresh. When I bit into that peach, the juice ran down my arms and my world was perfect. I am happy for anyone to enrich their life with a similar experience.
I learned of the ribbon-cutting festivities for the inauguration of the Mulberry Food Forest a few hours before it was scheduled. I walked up the West Ashley Bikeway to the Ardmore community in the nick of time to be welcomed by Darlene Heater, CEO & Executive Director, Charleston Parks Conservancy Director and the project team.
Little did they know I’d already made multiple visits to watch their garden grow. The Mulberry Food Forest is a hop, skip and jump off the Bikeway just below Wappoo Road, and is on my regular wandering route. I detour past the pond, greet the turtles, dodge the flock of guardian geese and cross the bridge to the grass roofed pavilion installed by Clemson University students in the garden location. I was pleased to be there for the official opening festivities ,sip ice cold lemonade on the hot, humid day, and see the progress.
Located in the Ardmore community, the Food Forest is planted with a thriving pollinator and rain garden, fruits, nuts, vegetables and herbs and the produce is free and open to the public. It is already thriving and producing and anyone can access it at any time. The neighborhood was selected as one that might greatly benefit from access to healthy affordable food.
Darlene Heater said they expect to see 30,000 pounds of produce come out of the food forest each year after it is established. “The project was initially funded through a grant of $50,000 from the South Carolina Forestry Commission. The Conservancy along with teams of volunteers is handling the horticulture, while the City of Charleston’s parks department continues to do the structural work to add pathways and soon to install a new playground at the park.”
A throng of lively children, community and neighborhood leaders, sponsors, board members, project partners and press were on hand to listen to the opening remarks for this ambitious project and celebrate the ribbon cutting, before wandering through the garden paths, sharing and learning along the way.
Sponsors, including Trident United Way, the City of Charleston, Bank of America and the South Carolina Forestry Commission there, pleased to see the successful outcome of their support.
Madison James, Health Program Manager with Trident United Way spoke, saying, “At Trident United Way, we know that having access to fresh foods contributes to household financial stability. That’s why the Mulberry Food Forest is a shining example of a community partnership that just makes sense. Households that have access to fresh foods through programs like this are not only taking steps towards financial stability, they will also experience lower rates of chronic disease, better productivity, and reduced healthcare costs, just to name a few.
This increased access, partnered with the great educational resources Charleston Parks Conservancy will add throughout this space, helps to further inspire the next generation to establish healthy habits early on, to reap the benefits over a lifetime.”
Planning began in the spring of 2023 with community input sessions clarifying the goals of the project and the understanding that the Food Forest would be both community-led and driven.
Sam Haab, Community Garden Manager, Charleston Parks Conservancy, has been involved since March, designing and selecting the plants for the thriving pollinator garden. She has been doing a monthly pollinator census and has already noted a huge increase in number and species. Thanks to the Trident United Way funding, Sam is planning programming for summer camps for the Pink House to start the following week, and anticipates bucket mushroom classes. Ninety six logs have been inoculated with oyster and shitake mushrooms.
Katie Bell, Director of Programs, Charleston Parks Conservancy, was guiding visitors through the garden, when she pointed to a small tree and exclaimed, “That was full of plums the other day. They are gone! That means someone found them!” Nothing could have pleased her more. The produce in the Food Forest is free for the taking.
We saw multiple kinds of citrus, banana trees, blueberries, strawberries, olives, pomegranates and artichokes. There is a melting pot of cultures in the neighborhood and plant choices such as figs, persimmons and lemongrass, deliberately reflect multicultural experiences for cooking and familiarity. Some are already producing, while others like the pecan trees will take many years.
I overheard Reverend Kim Bryant of Grace United Methodist Church, reminiscing about hearing her father say, “You like food, don’t you? Take care of your plants. Care for them, and they will take care of us.”
The Charleston Parks Conservancy did the initial planting with community volunteer support. Seventy five plants from nut trees to berries were planted and so far only three have been lost. The City of Charleston provided the irrigation system that is automated and controlled by smartphone, which helped through the recent drought.
Amanda Barton, Landscape Architect, shared how exciting it has been to be part of the project from the beginning. “It is the first of its kind in South Carolina, and we hope it will be the model for others. It is already an educational tool. The Conservancy will offer camps, classes and training on how to prepare the crops, harvesting and preserving.”
I inquired about the rules. There aren’t many. Community members are asked to be reasonable. We should take only what we will use, and leave enough for others. Be respectful. ^
Owen Vogel is President of the Ardmore Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association and had the honor of officially cutting the ribbon. He described the afternoon’s experience as almost surreal, to see the finished garden open and producing in real life after all the discussion and planning. “Neighbors have been walking through, seeing fruit and vegetables they’d never heard of.”
One of the best features of the garden is the long-term planning. I might snip an herb for my dinner tonight, but the nut and olive trees will take years to produce. Community members may well walk their grandchildren through the garden in years to come at harvest time.
Board member Sean Wesley Holleran said, “It is an absolute privilege to serve as a board member for the Charleston Parks Conservancy, and I am so excited about the long-term possibility of getting sustainable fresh produce into the hands of Charleston families that might need a little extra help through this innovative food forest.”
My grandparents retired to a small fruit farm that had a cherry tree with branches overgrowing the country lane. Neighborhood children on bicycles would ride by, take their hands off the handlebars, reach up to grab a handful of cherries and sail on down the road, their mouths full of red sweetness and laughter. It delighted my grandfather, and the kids felt they’d gotten away with mild mischief. The Mulberry Food Forest is a wonderful addition that will pay off for West Ashley residents in joy, finance and health for years in the future.
For more information or to sign up to volunteer, visit: www.charlestonparksconservancy.org/project/mulberry-park-food-forest/
