Our Farmers Are Planting Trees – Thousands of Them
Frecon Farms
When I think of planting trees, I admit, I don’t think of a connection to my local farmers’ market.
Planting trees is an Arbor Day thing, right? We plant trees in our own yards. Or we notice someone else planting trees in our neighborhood, usually as we’re driving by.
Or maybe we make a purchase from a company that pledges to plant a tree somewhere on the Earth with a portion of proceeds.
We may not realize, or we sometimes forget, that the local farming families plant thousands of trees every year.
What We Forget
It’s so easy to forget where our food comes from, so easy to overlook the trees themselves.
On this Earth Day, let’s remember together that apples, pears, peaches, plums, and more grow on trees that:
Improve air quality
Preserve Soil
Conserve Water
Help moderate our climate
Support wildlife -- think bees!
… and more!
Beechwood Orchards
Healthy Sustainability By The Numbers
At this time of year, our local farmers are ALL really busy planting trees to ensure there will be delicious fruit for future generations!
Here are just a few factoids from our local fruit farmers:
Sharrah Orchards, at the Media Market, will plant 50 plum and 200 apple trees this year.
Hands on the Earth Orchard, at the Rittenhouse Market, will plant 250 trees this year but, according to Dave, “this is a down year for us. We planted a thousand trees last year and will plant another thousand next year.”
Keith Fahnestock, at the Chestnut Hill Market, plants, on average, 100 trees annually, although last year it was 250. (Going the extra mile – solar panels provide all of the electricity used on the farm!).
Frecon Farms, at the Rittenhouse, Bryn Mawr and Ambler Markets, will plant over 6,000 new trees this year.
Beechwood Orchards, at the Rittenhouse and Swarthmore Markets, will plant approximately 8,000 new trees this year.
Doing the math, that means over 15,000 trees will be planted this year by those five farms alone!
Hands on the Earth Orchard
Why a Producer-Only Market Is Important
There are places that call themselves “farmers’ markets” that do not have farmers selling their own produce. Or places that promote “local food” even though the produce for sale may have come from somewhere else beyond the region.
A Producer-only market is different. The farmer that you meet at the market lives in your region and grows the produce offered for sale, actually plants the seeds, nourishes the plants, and harvests from the fields and the trees, the same trees that help our environment.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
By shopping at a producer-only farmer’s market, you are not just supporting the farmers, you are truly “Going Green” in a big way.
As for your carbon footprint:
You are buying local, which means the products you purchase have not travelled too far
You are supporting farmers who are doing great things to preserve an agricultural environment
You are supporting wildlife that depend on the trees for habitat
Everyone knows the importance of trees when it comes to the air we breathe and, of course, the beauty of trees. But you are the connection that makes the relationship between trees, farmers, and fruit at our local markets work.
Thank you for doing your part!