Dreaming of summer
Dakota College at Bottineau receives grant to plant community orchard
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BOTTINEAU - A planned community orchard at Dakota College at Bottineau will provide sweet fruits and berries and nuts for the campus and the community for years to come, said Apryl Mawby, farm manager, and Cody Clemensen, a forest steward specialist with the North Dakota Forest Service.
"This is probably what I'm most proud of from my work here at the college," said Mawby. "It's a legacy for the community."
The college received a grant of a little more than $19,000 to install the orchard, which is to be planted this summer. Ninety-seven trees and shrubs of different varieties of apple, apricot, pear, mulberry, hazelnut, cherry, honeyberry, plum, juneberry, highbrush cranberry, currant, aronia, and seabuckthorn will be planted.
Mawby and Clemensen said some of the berry trees could start producing as soon as two years from their planting.
The orchard will be located on the north end of the campus near the high tunnels.
Produce will eventually be used by the food service at the college, made available to the community for picking, and shared with the local food pantry. The campus already has given some produce from its community garden as well as some tiny plants to the food bank, said Mawby.
"We're going to be showcasing a lot of unique species (in the orchard)," said Mawby.
She said some North Dakotans might not be familiar with some unusual varieties that are hardy in this climate. Some people might be inspired to grow a new variety in their own back yards.
Students in the college's horticulture classes will also help to tend to the trees and learn about their care and management. Horticulture instructor Amy Koehler has worked with Mawby and Clemensen on plans for the orchard.
Local schools will be invited to get a taste of the orchard by not only learning about the special fruits, but also tasting the fruits to allow sensory learning, according to the college.
Mawby and Clemensen have worked hard on the project for years.
"We applied last year and didn't get the grant but we are stubborn and persistent and changed some things in our application and we were able to get the grant this year," said Mawby.
Mawby said Dakota College at Bottineau participates in the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA Foundation.
The community orchard project is also part of a larger plan for the growth of the campus.