NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Food Project invites community members to join in planting a new community orchard at The Community Farm at Mill Ridge Park on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28, from 8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Since 2019, The Community Farm at Mill Ridge has served as The Nashville Food Project’s largest urban agriculture site. Located in Antioch at 12944 Old Hickory Blvd, the farm includes more than three acres of community garden plots where growers cultivate food and build connections with neighbors.
This spring, the farm will expand with the addition of a community orchard featuring more than 200 fruit trees and berry brambles. Once established, the orchard will increase access to fresh fruits and berries for growers at Mill Ridge and neighbors throughout the surrounding Antioch community.
In addition to producing food, the orchard will support environmental health by expanding the tree canopy, improving soil quality, and creating habitat for pollinators. It will also serve as a gathering space where neighbors can learn, connect, and steward the land together.
Volunteers attending the Orchard Planting Party will help with the first steps of establishing the orchard. Tasks will include labeling trees, organizing materials, digging planting holes, planting trees and brambles, and mulching around each new planting. Opportunities will be available for volunteers of varying abilities and experience levels.
Participants are encouraged to wear clothes suitable for outdoor work, including long pants and closed-toe shoes. Volunteers should bring a filled water bottle and may wish to bring hats, sunglasses, or layers depending on weather conditions. Garden gloves, bug spray, sunscreen, and water refill stations will be available onsite.
No prior gardening experience is required, and all are welcome to participate.
By planting together this spring, volunteers will help establish an orchard that will nourish the Mill Ridge community for years to come.
About The Nashville Food Project
The Nashville Food Project was born from the idea that ALL people should have access to the food they want and need. We know that one in seven people in Nashville lacks access to enough food to sustain a healthy lifestyle. But we also know that more than 40% of all the food in our city goes to waste. Solutions to hunger take much more than simple handouts. Poverty, unemployment, low wages and escalating housing costs all contribute to the challenges that the most vulnerable residents of our city face.
We believe food can be a powerful tool to foster health, belonging and justice in our community. That’s why we...
Grow — In our gardens, we grow organic food intensively, and share resources with others interested in growing their own food.
Cook — In our kitchens, we use recovered, donated and garden-grown food to prepare and cook made-from-scratch meals.
Share — In our community, we share nourishing meals in partnership with local poverty-disrupting nonprofits and community groups.
The Nashville Food Project embraces a vision of vibrant community food security in which everyone in Nashville has access to the food they want and need through a just and sustainable food system.
Working toward these goals requires powerful, creative community collaboration and we would love for you to be a part of it.