ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—On May 3, the Englewood Health Department—in partnership with the Englewood Environmental Commission and Bergen Family Center—celebrated Arbor Day and the important role trees play in our environment.
At the Third Street Community Garden in Englewood, a group of residents planted apple trees in an open patch of land.
The project was led by Jim Fedorko, director of the Englewood Health Department, who was joined by Mayor Michael Wildes, Crystal Brown and Caroline Machiri, a youth health educator who runs Englewood Health Department’s Reach and Teach Program, and other Englewood citizens.
“Arbor Day is special to our city and to me because it talks about roots, our legacy and our future,” said Wildes. “By planting trees, we will reap benefits for the next generation.”
Brown, a member of the Englewood Environmental Commission and founding member of the Green Team, explained how the community garden came about.
“I petitioned the city for nine years to allow this property to officially become a garden. Seven years ago, the two-acre spread at the end of Third Street was offered to Habitat For Humanity, but they did not want it because it had been a dumping lot. The city also did not want it, so they gave it to us and we made it into a community garden.”
Over the years, many different shrubs, plants and trees have been donated by residents. There are arborvitae (North American evergreen coniferous trees of the cypress family), fruiting bushes such as strawberry, blueberry and blackberry, lemon balm, mint, perennials, forage, chives, ajuga, tomatoes and native plants that bring out pollinators.
Brown wants the garden to be “A place where people, especially children, can come and see how food actually grows.”
Machiri also has a special interest in teaching children about the importance of a community garden.
“Having trees in our community is part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Fedorko said that this is the first year that the department of health is putting their idea of planting trees into motion and he wants it to be an ongoing project. He and Brown hope that more people will offer to plant greenery. Brown said that anyone interested in donating a fruiting tree to the community garden should contact her at: crystal@greenenglewood.org.
Trees are a vital resource
Arbor Day, which is traditionally held on the last Friday in April, is a celebration that dates back to the Victorian era. Arbor Day began mainly as a tribute to the beauty of trees. But, 50 years ago, a more expansive celebration of the natural environment, Earth Day, came into being.
The importance of trees and the role they play in a sustainable environment has become more apparent in recent years. Trees are now on the front lines in the battle against climate change. That’s because forests absorb nearly 40 percent of human-made fossil fuel emissions every year.
Ordinary homeowners don’t have big forests to preserve but can nonetheless use trees to reduce their carbon footprint. Trees shading the house have a cooling effect in hot weather which reduces the need for air conditioning and electricity.
Englewood’s Third Street Community Garden is playing a role in highlighting the importance of trees and greenery. It is a small but important piece of the world’s environmental mosaic.