Community Impact

Providing Fresh and Healthy Foods in

Our Community

In 2014, with the help of the Iowa State Master Gardener's Program, we completed the installation of a 1-acre orchard on the Arboretum grounds. The orchard is split into four sections of fruit trees all of which were native to Iowa when the first settlers came.

The fruit from the orchard is harvested by members of the Master Gardener's Program and donated to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. As the trees in the orchard continue to reach maturity and start producing fruit we will be able to donate 10,000 pounds of fresh apples, cherries, pears, and plums to the food bank in the coming years. To learn more about the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, click the link below.

Bringing Back the Monarch Population

In 2019, we began a new project funded by the Young Family Foundation, to create the Cedar Valley Monarch Zones (CVMZ). The CVMZ works with community leaders, environmentally based organizations, and individuals to help plant pollinator plants and increase the number of habitat areas for Monarch Butterflies, as well as provide education about Monarch Butterflies.

We've assisted with the planting of over 50 acres of pollinator habitat in the Cedar Valley. To learn more about the Cedar Valley Monarch Zones, click the link below.