Orchard Project

Orchard Project is sponsored by Food Well Alliance. The Orchard Project plants trees at no cost to the applicant, aiming to increase access to local food and enhance the region's landscape. The program is open on a rolling basis and collaborates with schools, community groups, and urban agriculture organizations.

The Giving Grove Orchard Project — Food Well Alliance Photo by Caleb Jones at PolyCulture Production at Gaia Gardens Planting Orchards That Feed, Teach and Inspire Since 2010, The Orchard Project has planted hundreds of trees, bushes and vines in over 100 orchards, providing direct access to local food and improving the region’s landscape.

Schools, community groups and urban agriculture organizations collaborate to ensure the orchards receive the proper care and maintenance they need to thrive.

Starting in 2022, The Giving Grove , a national nonprofit, is giving metro Atlanta a unique opportunity to amplify our resources so that Food Well Alliance and the Community Orchard Coalition can increase equity in our local food system by putting abundant food sources across and beyond our service area.

We are dedicated to increasing the sustainability of community gardens and urban farms, and we believe community orchards can be a powerful mechanism to start producing food in places we haven’t yet reached.

Photo by Caleb Jones at Good Samaritan Farm THE ORCHARD PROJECT APPLICATION IS NOW OPEN ON A ROLLING BASIS Food Well Alliance is now offering two Orchard Project application opportunities, which means that we can provide more sites with fruit trees and continue to increase access to local food. Sites located in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties in Georgia.

Sites with easy access to water. Sites that are sunny and well-drained. Applicant has an orchard stewardship team in place.

Sites that are accessible to the public, such as a park, community garden, K-12 school, senior center, public housing, street planting, faith organization, youth activity center, supported living community, health or medical facility, university campus, etc. Preference is given to orchards that donate food to charities that serve people in need or are situated in underserved communities as the harvests are intended to provide the community with access to fresh, healthy food.

Preference is given to sites that have a large enough space to accommodate ten or more trees. Preference is given to sites that expand on an existing orchard. For inquiries regarding The Orchard Project, please contact Fred Conrad at fred@foodwellalliance.

org . Orchard planting at Beecher Hills Community Garden Support the Orchard Project! The Orchard Project plants trees at no cost to the applicant, and the program is partially funded by our annual Fruit Tree Sale .

The sale offers over 50 varieties of fruit trees, vines, berry bushes for planting in Georgia’s gardens and farms. Pre-sales will re-open in fall of 2025. The Giving Grove Orchard Resources A library of resources provided by The Giving Grove to help you successfully navigate holistic orcharding.

This collection includes everything from planting seedlings to pruning to pest management.

Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity Awards $7 Million to 38 Organizations Across the U.S. Atlanta Braves "Pitch In For The Planet" Volunteer Day - 11Alive Atlanta Braves help spruce up southeast Atlanta community garden - ANF Photos: Braves' Travis d’Arnaud plants trees in Marietta - AJC Giving Tuesday Orchard Planting at East Point Historical Society - WSBTV Atlanta has plenty of opportunities to give money and time on Giving Tuesday - ANF Planting community orchards part of Braves' Season of Giving - MLB.

com Planting community orchards part of Braves' Season of Giving - MLB Atlanta Braves Pitch in for the Planet - MLB. com Nonprofits come together to plant orchards across metro Atlanta - WSB-TV The Giving Grove’s mission is to provide healthy calories, strengthen community, and improve the urban environment through a nationwide network of sustainable little orchards.

The Giving Grove began in 2013 as a grassroots effort to make free, fresh fruits, nuts, and berries available to Kansas City neighborhoods with high rates of food insecurity. The program was launched with the understanding that an orchard must be community-led and community-driven.

Within a few years, The Giving Grove helped install more than 100 orchards in neighborhoods throughout Kansas City that have faced decades of environmental and health inequities, creating beautiful community spaces that each produce hundreds of pounds of free, fresh produce for the neighborhood. After finding success with The Giving Grove program in Kansas City, its founders began expanding the program across the nation in 2019.

Today, more than 300 of these little orchards, managed and maintained by more than 600 volunteer orchard stewards, are in six cities across the U. S, with dozens of new orchards added each year. The creation of Food Well Alliance was made possible through funding from the founding benefactor, the James M.

Cox Foundation, and through the vision of Jim Kennedy—Chairman Emeritus of Cox Enterprises and Chairman of the James M. Cox Foundation—and Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Together, they saw an opportunity to build healthier communities across metro Atlanta by supporting and connecting members of our local food movement.

Today, we support more than 300 community gardens, urban farms, and orchards in the Atlanta region. Food Well Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Tax ID: 47-4363668