On June 12th, the NJ Tree Foundation and 32 Camden residents gathered at Bridge of Peace Church for the first-ever Fruit Tree Farmer workshop held in the City of Camden! At this session, made possible by the Campbell Soup Foundation, farmers learned how to properly hand-thin, stake, prune, harvest, and prevent problems with their fruit trees. In addition, Fruit Tree Farmers mingled, shared stories from their gardens, and went home with lots of amazing give-aways, tools, and educational materials.
With support from the Campbell Soup Foundation, we will have planted 50 fruit trees in Camden in 2013-2014. Species planted have included serviceberries, peaches, apples, pears, plums, nectarines, figs, persimmons, and crabapples. Thank you to the Camden City Garden Club for connecting us to incredible farmers and to MAFCO and United Water Camden for donating mulch and offloading services at fruit tree plantings.