Cochrane could have the blossoming of a community orchard in its future, according to a group of citizens hoping to move the idea forward.
On Sept. 18, a followup to the FoodX event was held at Mitford Park. The original FoodX event was held June 6 and was put together by the Cochrane CookHouse, Provisions Permaculture and the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee (CEAC).
It connected over 100 members of the community and the followup event was designed to move the conversation forward and put those items discussed at the original event into action.
Karla Cox from Provisions Permaculture said that although the turnout to the September event was low, the group that was there wanted to move forward on the topic of creating a community orchard.
“We mobilized the group and we discussed the topic of where that would be, what that would look like and what it would consist of,” said Cox. “The next step is to meet again and actually move forward with creating a proposal and creating a 10 year plan.”
Cox said that a community orchard is different from something like a community garden, explaining that community gardens are a lot of work because people need to rent a spot each year, the soil needs to be modified and it needs to be maintained.
A community orchard is something that a community builds together and because it would be based in permaculture, it would be a functional orchard that wouldn’t need pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides, according to Cox.
She said that not only would it be a place where food could be harvested, but also it could be a space to be used as a community for picnics, theatre or educational workshops.
“This would be that something, as a community, we would build and construct together and as a community anybody who came to the garden would be able to take what they need, but need what they take,” said Cox. “Anybody that is going through, we want them to understand that your welcome to whatever you want to take, but just use it. Don’t be wasteful.”
Cox said that before they approach the town they would have more meetings so they would be able to anticipate potential issues and concerns the town might have.
She said they want to be fully organized before they go to council and make a true proposal.
“This is truly the power of individuals coming together for the betterment of ourselves, our food security and our town,” said Cox.
She also added that they would be organizing other meetings to discuss other topics that were popular at the original FoodX event, such as chemical — free green spaces, urban hen keeping, urban bee keeping and a town fruit harvest.
Cox didn’t have any exact dates but said that people who are interested should keep an eye on the FoodX Facebook page or can contact her at [email protected].
