Neena Satija Photo
The kids skateboarding at Edgewood Park won’t have to cross Whalley to grab potato chips to snack — once the apple and cherry trees Semi Semi-Dikoko and his neighbors plant this weekend mature and bloom.
The Friends of Edgewood Park, and as many volunteers as they can find, plan to plant 24 fruit trees near the 123-acre park’s popular outdoor skate rink this Saturday. They plan to plant 48 fruit trees in all.
The planting will be a celebration in itself, of hard work neighbors did over months cultivating support to win a national contest.
The Friends group, which Semi-Dikoko (pictured) heads, won a grant last month for the trees from Edy’s Fruit Tree Foundation’s “Community Take Roots” program. Organizers collected some 33,000 votes to beat out 120 other groups from across the country for the award. The city promised to match the grant by planting 48 trees in other nearby parks.
In August the grant was to pay for 44 trees. Then came Hurricane Irene. That postponed the planting — and drove down prices enough that the foundation can now pay for 48 trees. They include apple, cherry, and walnut trees.
“This is to welcome more members of the community into the park” and to encourage them to exercise and eat healthfully, said Semi-Dikoko. Anyone will be able to pick fruit from the trees, which will Friends of Edgewood Park will maintain.
Semi-Dikoko and his staff spent a fair amount of time planning the best way to plant the trees by talking to neighbors, city officials, local park advocates and the Yale Office of Sustainability. One fruit of those conversations: The decision to plant a row of trees alongside the trail in one particular stretch that otherwise feels deserted.
Semi-Dokoko predicted that the fruit trees will spruce up that stretch so people feel more comfortable there. “It should encourage people to explore that part of the park and feel safe,” he said.
A few fruit trees still exist in Edgewood Park right now, but they are barely surviving because no one maintains them. An apple tree at the Edgewood entrance to the park only bears fruit the size of berries. (They’re quite juicy if you bite into them, however).
That won’t happen for any of the new trees that will be planted on Saturday, said Semi-Dokoko. He expects them to start bearing fruit — of a normal size — in 2 – 3 years.