Tree Care Mini Grant Project Highlights

Fruitful Commons is proud to support neighborhood and school leaders in promoting food access, planting trees, and stewarding the natural commons. See below to learn about projects from some of our past grantees.

Accepting applications: August 1 – September 15, 2024

To learn more about this grant and apply, visit: fruitfulcommons.org/mini-grant

2023 Projects (Ongoing projects)

Austin Discovery School

Project Overview
Our TreeCare Mini Grant funds continue to make a significant impact! We’re immensely grateful for these funds, which have enabled us to embark on tree planting initiatives across our campus. Leading this project is Thora Gray, our Eco-Wellness teacher and resident expert on all things plants. She has played a pivotal role in maximizing the impact of these funds and integrating tree planting into her Eco-Wellness curriculum. Thora and I have captured many photos of students actively involved in tree planting activities. As of now, we’ve successfully planted several trees along the main walkway leading to our performance stage. Additionally, another cluster of trees has been planted near our social-emotional building, providing students seeking privacy a space away from the playground activities.

Alamo Community Garden

Project Overview
After our previous shed was broken into and vandalized we were in need of a new shed where we could keep our tree care and gardening supplies safe. With this grant, we had the old shed demolished and hauled away. We had a new shed installed (it’s fabulous!). Now that we have a secure place to store tools, we were able to buy ones we desperately needed. We used our new pole saw, loppers, and shears to trim our trees, clear brush, and make room for more desirable trees. We’re also in the process of propagating pomegranate trees. Because we now have multiple pairs of pruning shears, loppers, and gloves, we are better able to utilize our volunteers. We recently hosted a corporate work day with Charles Schwab. Before, we would’ve had them do tool-free projects, like painting garden markers. This time, we were able to put them to work clearing brush from our fence and pulling invasive snailseed vines off of our trees.

This project had a chain reaction of other benefits! We were able to support local businesses, reinvigorate our garden community after 3 years of no workdays during COVID, and we reached out to other community gardens and farms to learn about their experiences from their sheds and opened up our network!  

2022 Projects

El Buen Samaritano

Mini Grant award amount: $5,000
# of trees planted: 9
# of trees cared for: 17
# of community engaged: 60

Project Overview
The objective of El Buen’s La Casita Verde project was to grow locally sourced food to supply the Food Pantry. It also sought to become a gathering point for the community as a green space. We are proud to report that this grant was able to help us meet our objectives. La Casita Verde now has a fruit orchard that includes mandarin, fig, lemon, and orange trees. The trees were planted on Earth Day 2023 by El Buen staff and volunteers and have been growing at a healthy rate since. We have several trees that began to bear fruit this summer. All of the trees planted this spring have survived their first few months since planting. We will have an additional fall planting day with 8 trees purchased this November, as several species of fruit trees fare well with fall plantings. We saw success in our new irrigation system, which was able to maintain the health of the trees through an arid summer. We are proud to know these fruit trees will be part of El Buen’s presence in the community and provide fruit for the community for years to come. We saw challenges initially in gathering the information needed to grow the trees properly, but we were able to collaborate as a team and conduct sufficient research to carry out the project successfully!

 

Kealing Middle School

Mini Grant award amount: $5,000
# of trees planted: 17
# of trees cared for: 30
# of community engaged: 200

Project Overview

The original objective of our project was to support and grow our food forest at Kealing Middle School. We successfully installed an irrigation system, replaced and added new fruit trees, added life to the soil with compost & mulch, beautified our campus with new landscape plants and created new gardens to attract pollinators and grow vegetables. Our main setbacks came from the punishing Texas climate! After our January workday, the ice storm killed off a few of our newly planted trees and shrubs. Thanks to the irrigation system and mulch, all of our new trees made it through the extremely hot summer!

 

2021 Projects

The Salvation Army Austin Family Shelter Gardens

Mini Grant award amount: $5,000
# of trees planted: 3
# of trees cared for: 5
# of community engaged: 130

Project Overview

On behalf of The Salvation Army Austin, we’d like to thank Fruitful Commons for their continued support of the shelter gardens at The Rathgeber Center for Families and The Austin Shelter for Women and Children. Over the last year we had several project objectives which are listed below:

• Maintain the two community garden spaces at The Rathgeber Center and The Austin Shelter for Women and Children
• Foster a sense of community through the use of outdoor spaces
• Affirm healthy eating habits among families that are currently experiencing homelessness
• Provide a space for relaxation and relief for our families in shelter
• Plant additional shade and fruit trees
  

With your financial support, our program is thriving. Your funding allows our two Residential Services Managers to support and preserve this necessary outdoor space. We were also able to plant fruit and shade trees to continue maximizing our urban canopy. Throughout the year, our social services team works to engage the shelter community. Our Child Program Coordinator regularly takes children out into the garden with activities designed to engage and teach them about plants and where their food originates. We have a dedicated group of shelter clients that garden alongside our staff and community volunteers. This space is open to all and supplies a peaceful space for reflection, meditation, and hope. The largest setback and obstacles during the seasons are our continued battles with extreme heat. This past summer was so warm, the Residential Service Managers discussed adding shade structures (shade sails that would cover portions of the garden most impacted by the summer sun) to combat the heat. Adding shade structures to portions of our gardens will temporarily help while we nurture and plant shade trees. As we move into the new year, we’re hoping to continue maintaining the garden, adding more trees, and engaging the community in a vital outdoor space.

 

We are proud to partner with the City of Austin Urban Forest Grant. Learn more at www.austintexas.gov/ufgp