Victory Garden Initiative Plants Orchards In Milwaukee’s Food Desert

An urban effort to plant more trees and bushes that bear fruits or nuts took deeper root in Milwaukee over the weekend.

Members of the Victory Garden Initiative have helped plant 30 trees – including apple, pear, peach, and plum trees – a gooseberry bush, and a serviceberry shrub on the grounds of the Highland Community School. The initiative has also planted trees and bushes at a few other central city locations that won a contest to receive the orchards and have promised to maintain them.

Jazz Glastra of the Initiative says over the last five years, her group, funded by private and corporate donations, has tried to bring better nutrition to the Milwaukee food desert.

“There’s not necessarily a neighborhood store where you can go purchase fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Glastra. “And even if there is, the ones that you’re getting from the store – they’ve been in storage for a long time, they’ve been picked when they weren’t ripe.”

Glastra says she also likes connecting with the people that want the trees and bushes. At Highland, a Montessori School, parent and development director Leana Nakielski helped apply for the orchard. Nakielski says students will learn how to help care for the plantings.

“So if they want to be future arborists and have that be their role as bringing peace to our community, that’s great,” she said. “But we want to give them the option, and (let them) know that it exists.”

Nakielski says as the plantings mature, much of the fruit and nuts will be served at the school.