Courtesy The Park People

The city of Denver’s Denver Digs Trees program distributes trees to neighborhoods twice a year—once in the fall and once in the spring.

If a tree falls in Denver chances are very good someone will plant one back in its place.

That’s due, in large part, to Denver Digs Trees, a program of The Park People, a citywide parks improvement group, that distributes free and low-cost trees to residents twice a year.

“Our and Denver Forestry’s goal is to have a minimum of 18 percent canopy coverage throughout the city, and ideally that number is closer to 22 percent,” says Kim Yuan-Farrell, program manager of Denver Digs Trees. Unfortunately, she says, “We’re really far from that.”

Every year the city loses thousands of aging trees. And in some neighborhoods, there just aren’t very many at all. That’s why Denver Digs Trees wants to make it easy for people to plant trees—which come in the form of about 2-year-old, 6-foot-tall native varieties—throughout the city.

After a quick application, any Denver resident is eligible for a low-cost ($25) tree. And for those living in the program’s target areas—neighborhoods with low canopy or low-income neighborhoods—the trees are free.

Currently, the program has 23 target areas, and others are constantly being taken into consideration for inclusion. Although Yuan-Farrell says she’s had to work hard to get the word out about Denver Digs Trees in the target neighborhoods, so far, around 70 percent of the trees have ended up there.

“We partner with organizations that have close ties in those neighborhoods and work with community groups,” she says. “Our focus is to reduce as many of the barriers to obtaining trees as possible.”

The program has broken a few barriers for itself, too.

Officially founded in 1991 as a street tree program, Denver Digs Trees has modest roots.

“It started out in the garages of a couple of Denver residents more than 20 years ago,” says Yuan-Farrell. “And the city really embraced it.”

Denver Digs Trees is now funded through grants, but Yuan-Farrell says it’s able to operate because it gets what she calls “very-reduced pricing” from suppliers in eastern Oregon, which has a similar climate and soil make-up to Colorado. That allows the program to offer a variety of tree species appropriate for Colorado’s climate and urban environment.

Alhough the staff is still only two people, Yuan-Farrell says they have about 300 volunteers at each distribution, and the program distributes nearly 3,000 trees annually, with a spring distribution for street trees and one for yard trees in the fall.

Until last year, the program only distributed street trees—which were to be planted close to the curbside in the “tree lawn” between the sidewalk and curb—each spring. In 2009, Denver Digs Trees added a yard tree component, along with an annual fall distribution.

“People are really excited about free and low-cost yard trees for their properties,” Yuan-Farrell says. “The whole purpose is providing natural shade cover and reducing the energy used for summer cooling.”

Every tree designated for this year’s fall distribution on Oct. 2, 2010, was claimed early. (Traditionally, any unclaimed trees are sold for $35 following the distribution dates.)

“Trees define neighborhoods, make places more walkable, filter pollution and provide shade,” Yuan-Farrell says. “There’s a really broad quality-of-life benefit to providing trees.”

For Denver residents interested in street trees or yard trees in the future, visit Denver Digs Trees’ website.

Courtesy Stock.XCHNG

American farmers’ market shoppers casted their votes for their farmers’ market.

Last month, farmers’ market goers across the nation entered their picks for their favorite farmers’ markets as part of a contest by American Farmland Trust. 

“Over 50,000 people from across the country voted for their favorite farmers’ markets this summer,” says Jane Kirchner, senior director of marketing for AFT. “And in the last three weeks of the promotion, we’ve seen the top 20 markets in each category change positions, sometimes daily.”

AFT designed the online contest to promote the economic and social value of farmers’ markets in communities and to bring attention to the need for consumers and communities to recognize the necessity of local farm and ranch land for the existence of fresh, healthy and local food.

“Customers can visit our website and learn the top 20 markets in each of contest’s four market categories,” adds Kirchner. The top markets for each category are:

• Boutique Markets (15 or fewer vendors): King George Farmers’ Market, King George, Va.
• Small Markets (16 to 30 vendors): Champaign County Farmers’ Market, Urbana, Ohio
• Medium Markets (31 to 55 vendors): Falls Church Farmers Market, Falls Church, Va.
• Large Markets (56 or more vendors): City of Rochester Public Market, Rochester, N.Y.

“This contest is a win/win for every farmers’ market that enters because American Farmland Trust keeps the focus on farmers, farmland and farmers’ markets,” says Randii McNear, executive director of the Davis, Calif., farmers’ market. Davis Farmers Market won in the large category in August 2009, the first year of the contest. “We’ll always be honored to have won the title of ‘America’s Favorite’ in the contest’s first year. I’m sure every farmers’ market that placed in the top 20 in their category is feeling the love of their community today.”

The top four markets will each receive a shipment of personalized “No Farms No Food” recyclable tote bags along with other prizes, including free printing services from igreenprint and free graphic design services from Virginia-based design firm SQN Communications. 

“It’s been great fun to watch this promotion unfold,” says Kirchner. “We hope that all of the markets have seen increased interest in and visitors to their markets as a result of the promotion and that they will participate in next year’s contest.” 

AFT will announce further information on the winners and ongoing efforts to support and promote farmers’ markets through its website and other media.

“We hope farmers and foodies will participate in AFT’s next campaign, Dine Out for Farms, the week of Oct. 10 to 16, and continue the momentum of support for farms by dining at participating restaurants around the country,” Kirchner says.

Photo by Rick Gush

I like to eat the figs that grow on my terraces as snacks while I’m in the garden.

Fall means the figs are ready to pick and preparations for the huge olive harvest here are just starting. I don’t actually harvest the figs and bring them in the house, because my wife doesn’t like the little black figs that we have. Instead, I use the figs as my snacks for the short season that they are available. I ate six or seven this morning, when I first worked in the garden, and then I ate another handful after my second stint.

Here in Liguria, Italy, it’s traditional to grow figs not as upright standing trees, but as crawlers that grow in the rock walls that make the terraces. Having a fig in a wall is sort of considered a requirement, so almost every new construction or wall rebuilding project includes the planting of a fig in a wall somewhere.

Our fig follows this convention and is rooted in our cliff, about 15 feet above the ground. I have the tree pruned sort of flat, in such a way that the bottom half is harvestable from the ground and the top half is harvestable from one of the terraces above. 

I tried drying some figs last year, (I make great raisins in the oven.) but, while they were edible, they weren’t the succulent morsels I had hoped for. I was too busy to try drying figs again this year, but next year I’ll try to be more selective and use only the sweetest figs for my dried-fruit experiments.

Photo by Rick Gush

Making olive oil is a big part of the fall season. Here, an olive grower rakes olives to be pressed for oil.

The big news is that the annual olive harvest is just starting. The whole area here is covered by olive trees, and even as we walk in the forests behind our home, we pass thousands of old olives that were abandoned many years ago.

The crop of olives is very important to all the homeowners. Wherever homes are constructed, the old olives are refurbished by a severe pruning. We don’t have any olives on our cliff, but I do spend a lot of time helping my friend, Richard, with his trees. He has around a hundred trees on his terraces and produces an average of a hundred liters of oil per year. 

It’s great fun going to the olive pressing facilities to have the olives mashed and the oil extracted. All the equipment in these places, (and there are perhaps 30 olive mills within a half-hour drive from Richard’s farm) is ancient and looks like it could have been running during the 19th century. But it works great, and all the farmers and homeowners make reservations and line up with their bags full of olives to have their crops processed. 

Almost everybody allocates 50 liters a year or so for their own kitchen use, and then they sell the rest of their production to non-olive-owning friends. The price for good homemade oil from a friend is about 10 Euros per liter. The higher price for homemade reflects the general impression that the homemade stuff is preferable.

Read more of Rick’s Favorite Crops »