Covid 19 has affected most businesses and communities, and Hope & a Future is no different. During Covid lockdown, this unique, intergenerational Adult Family Home (AFH) in Madison has had to adjust to the inability to accommodate its community of over 300 volunteers. Wisconsin Food Forests also needed to adjust our approach during the Covid
Wisconsin Food Forests is a project of Madison Traffic Garden. Do not let our beautiful website fool you: we are a fledgling grassroots organization. Every year, we plant three food forests for nonprofit organizations. These food forests are supported by donations, sponsors, and fundraisers. We have been busy! We are finishing our last installation and wanted
We have described our Basic Starter Kit and have provided you with details on each of the plants that comprise the Kit. Emily intentionally chose a variety of plants that will work in synergy with the other plants in the guild. She chose plants that each fulfill a purpose and are resilient and easy to
The wild rose is rather unappreciated. Two of the most widespread species roses you may see are Rosa carolina, or the Carolina Rose, common in thickets, and R. blanda, the pink-fading-to-white-flowered climbing shrub usually called Prairie Rose (Meadow rose, smooth wild rose, early wild rose).
Noteworthy Characteristics Viburnum lentago, commonly called nannyberry (wild raisin, sweet viburnum, sheepberry), is a large, upright, multi-stemmed, suckering, deciduous shrub which typically grows to 10-18 feet tall with a spread of 6-12 feet, but may also be grown as a small, single trunk tree that may reach a height of 30 feet. Native nannyberries have
Growth Habit Gooseberries are a somewhat unusual fruit that are greatly prized in all other northern countries but hardly known on this side of the Atlantic. Many varieties of this shrub have significant thorns, which is part of the reason that Emily chose the Black Velvet (Ribes grossularia) cultivar with its small thorns for our
We had our Zumbathon fundraiser at the first part of this month, and before the month has passed, we want to share our success. Wisconsin Food Forests’ (WFF) first annual Zumbathon® was co-hosted by Emma Rose Health Enterprises, LLC. Coach Emma chose to host this event benefitting WFF to honor her late father, an avid
American hazelnut (Corylus americana) is a medium-sized shrub that is easily grown in average, medium, or well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. This shrub is part of our Starter Kit, and Emily Steinwehe, Chief Planting Officer for Wisconsin Food Forests, lists the reasons why we like this shrub in our food forest: They
Ripening in July, currant (Ribes) bushes give us fruits that hang down like little jewels in the hot summer sun. That has been said so many times, it’s a bit of a cliche, but these fruits are lovely to behold. Like their cousins, gooseberries (the genus Ribes), currants are native to Wisconsin woodlands, fence rows,
The first spring I spent in Madison, I was surprised and delighted by the gorgeous, magical trees with the lavender (Pink to reddish purple flowers) diaphanous blooms that resemble lace. Madison is loaded with these beautiful trees, which I learned were Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis L.). It is a native deciduous understory tree that often