LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Activate Allen County is expanding access to fresh food by planting Lima's first urban orchard at the Jackson Street Garden.
Volunteers gathered Thursday morning to plant about a dozen dwarf fruit trees at the garden, located at 200 S. Jackson St. The orchard was made possible through an Allen Lima Leadership grant and is designed to provide fresh fruit to residents in an area considered a food desert. Activate Allen County's Chad Welker said the project will help address the lack of access to fresh produce in the neighborhood while creating a lasting community resource.
"The importance ultimately is providing fresh fruit and produce for the community. 200 South Jackson Street sits in what's called a food desert where there are not grocery stores that offer fresh produce for sale. So having an urban orchard to provide some of those fruit items to people is amazing. And we are planting 15 apple and pear trees today with the addition of more apple and pears to come."
Volunteers gathered Thursday morning to plant about a dozen dwarf fruit trees at the garden, located at 200 S. Jackson St.
Additional apple and pear trees will be planted with support from volunteers from the Lima Cenovus Refinery through the company's We Care Program. The program is contributing $1,000 in recognition of employees' volunteer efforts on the community project.
