4-H youth help plant pollinator garden

FAIRFIELD — A group of adults and local 4-H members installed a pollinator garden at the Fairfield Community Orchard Monday.

Rachel Fishel, 4-H Youth Program Specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, said the group of a dozen people planted 15 species of plants designed to help pollinating bees, butterflies and other insects. Plants included purple coneflowers, little bluestems and sedges, among others.

“As we see their habitat being taken away for different reasons, anything we can do to create more habitat for them will be beneficial,” Fishel said. “Especially in a place like the community orchard, those trees will benefit from pollinators being in the area.”

The pollinator garden was made possible by a $5,000 grant from Keep Iowa Beautiful and Alliant Energy, with assistance from ISU Extension and 4-H. To be eligible for the grant, the proposed pollinator garden had to be on public land accessible to the public. At first, Fishel considered putting it at the fairgrounds, where ISU Extension has a greenhouse and garden area on the south side of the fairgrounds. Brenda Pollak, a member of the Fairfield Community Orchard, reached out and suggested planting the pollinator garden at the orchard, which is east of Chautauqua Park on the east edge of Fairfield.

Once the groups agreed on a location in the orchard, Fishel and ISU Extension put out a call for 4-H volunteers to plant and label the pollinators. On Monday, a group of adults and six 4-H members built the pollinator garden, just off the Fairfield Loop Trail that passes by the orchard.

Avi Pogel, a founding member of the Fairfield Community Orchard that was started in 2012, said the group was looking for an opportunity to draw more attention to the orchard.

“We were brainstorming ways to get more community engagement and think about how to use the space we have,” he said. “When you create habitat for beneficial insects, they’ll provide a benefit to the whole area, such as parasitic wasps that feed on other pests in the orchard. We’re mostly planting fall pollinating plants because that’s when nectar is lowest. This garden is the first step in creating a beautiful, biodiverse system that is beneficial to the fruit trees.”

Pogel said the orchard has had to undergo some changes in recent years in response to the city installing a sewer main through the orchard, which required relocating some of its trees such as persimmons, pawpaws, mulberries and black walnuts. The area that the sewer went through is now grass, and Pogel said the orchard committee won’t plant trees there again, though it might plant wildflowers.

The orchard once had as many as 200 trees, but the number is lower than that today. Other fruit trees include apples, Asian pears, Illinois mulberries, and chestnuts, which are about to ripen.

“The chestnuts fall onto the ground, so you just pick them off the ground instead of the tree,” he said.

The Fairfield Community Orchard is a subcommittee of the Jefferson County Trails Council. Those who are interested in learning more about it can email fruityfairfield@gmail.com or visit its Facebook page at Fairfield Community Orchard.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com