Volunteer Opportunity: Food Forest Tree Keeper

Volunteers begin planting trees at the food forest on Marshall Street (Photo from Vietnamese Central Baptist Church)

Kaizen Food Rescue, Vietnamese Central Baptist Church, and Denver Urban Gardens are collaborating on a new food forest at 25th Lane and Marshall Street in Edgewater. This past weekend work began on planting the trees and creating the forest.

Denver Urban Gardens is looking for two Tree Keepers for the site. See below for more information from Denver Urban Gardens.

Tree Keepers play an important role in shepherding and stewarding DUG’s food forest sites as part of the Etkin Family Food Forest initiative. These sites will be your perennial playground, where you can make changes as needed–but it will also be your responsibility to ensure the survival and establishment of the trees and plants.

Commitment and Expectations for Tree Keepers:

• At least two-year commitment: we want this to become something you own, love, and care for for a long time to come, and the less turnover the better. This is not just a place where you take orders from us at DUG, but something that reflects you and your passions and skills.
• 30-60 minutes of work per week on average: there will be less to do through the winter, a lot more to do during pruning season, and you will be expected to keep close tabs on the site at all times so you can see disease and pest issues as they arise. The most consistent and crucial work is watering for tree establishment.
• Collaboration with at least one other Tree Keeper to meet goals: This will be someone outside of your family, although you are more than welcome to involve partners, family, and friends in this work.
• Transition support: If you ever need to transition away from being a Tree Keeper, we ask that you recruit and find your replacement.

Support, Training, and Materials offered to you:

• A bucket of materials: orcharding book, pruners, pruning saw, tie tape, limb spreaders, hat, and t-shirt. These are yours to keep for as long as you’re a Tree Keeper with us–if you ever need to find a replacement, we ask that you transfer the pruners, saw, and book to that replacement.
• Education: Throughout the year there will be a series of tree-care workshops, with priority and free access given to our Tree Keepers. We will also convene some potlucks and community gatherings for our growing network. You will get access and notice about national tree-care trainings offered by The Giving Grove.
• Staff Support: DUG staff will be on-call via text or email to answer questions as they come up. If you want to add new plants to the food forest, we will find you funding, volunteers, and schedule workdays to get that accomplished.

Click here to learn more and apply for this volunteer opportunity.

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.