Fruit and Nut Village are an organisation that was set up between Lets Grow Together and Food Forest Brum in summer 2018. The aim is to connect existing orchards and edible growing in the area, adding nut groves where possible. They will also look at creating different ways for fruit trees to be grown, using small empty sites or hard to manage plots. The organisation will use trusted techniques for tricky plots such as creating espaliers, fans, utilising raised beds or planting trees as rows behind houses.
The group work across a number of sites in the Birmingham area including:
- Stirchley Park – Orchard and Foraging Hedge
- Stirchley Baths and Library – Community raised beds
- Pebble Mill playing fields – Forest garden
- Hazelwell Park – Forest garden
- Broad Meadow – Orchard
- Selly Park North – Fruit orchard
They have got local communities together and run sessions where they can learn about grafting and pruning alongside watering and general tree care. These sessions run throughout the year. In time, they are hoping that other community organisations will be able to understand the needs of the trees, come together and run events without their involvement and then roll the model out to other parts of Birmingham.
Fruit and Nut Village are being supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Stirchley project. For the first two years in Stirchley they will be try to grow a range of edible plants with a heritage or historical significance.
Fruit and Nut Village on Facebook
@fruitenutvillage on Twitter
