The 5 Million Trees for Maryland initiative, mandated by legislature in 2021, set the lofty goal to plant five million native trees on public and private land by 2031. How did the crew at the John S. Ayton State Nursery react to this increased need for mass seedlings and saplings of Maryland native trees? Join us for this tour to see how this 300-acre facility grows three million trees each year and ships 250,000 in a day during the harvest season. We will see the current seedling crop and learn about the growing, harvesting, grading, and packaging process. Crews should be hard at work with seedbed preparation, fall planting, and seed collection and cleaning.
We’ll finish up at the nursery, eat a picnic lunch, then head over to the White Marsh Park Edible Garden. We’ll walk the Edible Forest Trail as it wanders through what might be called a “food forest” or a “forest garden.” This example of agroforestry incorporates native fruit and nut-bearing trees and shrubs, herbaceous species, and even fungi into the landscape. This combination of forestry and sustainable agricultural practices creates multi-purpose areas that benefit people and the environment. We may find lingering hazelnuts and persimmons to sample. Any leftover produce is donated to the Maryland Food Bank.