Near the end of the fall planting season, volunteers from Edible Evanston, Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University and neighbors near Eggleston Park planted young fruit trees in a newly cleared portion of the park and replanted some established trees.
The soil in the orchard area is good but wet, said Ken Kasten, co-chair of Edible Evanston, one of the groups that formed last year as part of Evanston 150. “We’re replanting some of last year’s trees closer to the top of the soil and mulching them with wood chips” so the roots will not rot in the continual moisture,” he said.
The volunteers also pruned raspberry bushes. “We have purple, yellow and
red raspberries,” said Linda Kruhmin, co-chair of Edible Evanston.
In addition to the apple, plum and pear trees, the group has also planted hazelnut, or filbert, trees.
A grant from Evanston Community Foundation supports the program.