Clifford Park Food Forest
Events & Announcements Phase 1 Phase 2 Directions
Resilient Hartford, a town commission of volunteers committed to making Hartford a more resilient community, is working with the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department on a plan to develop a portion of Clifford Park into a food resource for neighbors of the park and Hartford residents. Two local soil/permaculture consultants, Cat Buxton and Karen Ganey have been hired to assist Resilient Hartford in developing a design for the food forest, conduct community workshops and guide a community process to make this town food resource a reality. The project will be phased and take a few years to complete. Community input is vital to the success of the project. Resilient Hartford is seeking volunteers to work on the design, build soil, select plants, and plant and maintain the food forest. We hope you will consider getting involved.
Please contact Hartford Town Planner Matt Osborn if you would like to be involved.
mosborn@hartford-vt.org
(802) 478-1118
Clifford Park is located at 100 Recreation Drive in West Hartford, Vermont.
MAP
Quechee Times article about the food forest
Link to photos from our work days
Events
Meeting at the Park
Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 4:30
Discuss future plans and scatter some seeds on the spaces in between.
Phase 2 Spring Tree Planting 2022
Saturday, April 30 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
We planted 5 Bartlett and Clapp's pear trees, 2 Bailey Hardy and 1 Early RedHaven peach trees,
3 hawthorn trees, 6 Jefferson hazelnuts, and 9 Mossbarger & Gideon chestnuts.
Phase 1 Fall Guild Planting 2021
Saturday, October 16th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
We planted yarrow, lamium or dead nettle, lady's mantle, forget-me-nots, violets, strawberries, oregano,
thyme, and bulbs around the three plum trees.
Phase 1 Tree Planting 2021
Saturday, September 18th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
We planted plum trees, butternuts, burr oaks, basswood, and chestnuts.
This is a rough map of what we first planted where, just by eye, no exact measurements.
A complete map of the plan is in the works.
Community Presentation
On Thursday, September 9th, there was a presentation and discussion about the Clifford Park Food Forest with consultant Karen Ganey of Permaculture Solutions.
Here are the slides that went along with Karen's presentation.
Here is the recording of the presentation on YouTube.
How the area looked in July 2021
What was growing there?
Rough Timeline
Year 1
May - Formed steering committee, began creating teams, Intro presentation
June - Workshop #1, Workshop #2, more people joining teams, thinking about design
July - Workshop #3, design (at least the bed layout), materials collection for building soil, soil building once design is approved
August 25th - Resilient Hartford Meeting - finalizing details of the planting plan, sourcing trees and necessary materials etc.
September 9th - Community Meeting Presentation & Discussion (Spread the Word!)
September 18th - Planting Work Party
Year 2
January - Organizational meeting, design specifics, budget, investigate sources of plants
February -Town approval of design, budget, fundraising as soon as plan is approved and budget is done
March
April
May
June
Possibilities
Community Orchard
Collaborative Growing Spaces
Free Food
Place-Based Education
Biodiversity
Eco-literacy
Flood & Drought Resilience
Community-scale Organics Management
Community Input So Far
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a fabulous idea and will bring the community together;
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pocket parks could be scattered along the trails;
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quiet places, trails, benches etc could easily be integrated into the forest or orchard;
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organic/biodynamic food-growing areas for town food are imperative for public health and local resilience;
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all trees are fruit bearing and there are gardens in all available locations;
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I think the whole park should be planted to perennial crops for all to harvest;
before planting gardens, assure the soil is safe;
a herd of goats to use for ‘mowing’-- goats could be housed in a barn at one of the parks;
important to have native trees;
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alternative methods using vertical gardens and magnetic energy in small spaces to provide more food than a conventional garden (at innovation.com);
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community composting
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organized and professional town garden/farm, with real infrastructure and employees;
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it’s a brilliant use of space, will help with food security, and build community;
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maximizing the amount of food is a good idea: drop apples are good for cider and all drop fruit is good feed for pigs, chickens and cows;
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designing food producing areas into our parks would have great nutritional, environmental, social and economic benefits;
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GREAT ideas around food!; community composting;
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Play spaces, multi-use, classes, educational workshops, concerts
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