The Orchard hosts weekly Work & Learn Days to enhance and maintain the Orchard, and the first in each month begins with an Orchard tour, for those interested in learning more about our approach to organic food-growing strategies and perennial agriculture:
- June-August: Wed. 5:00-8:00 p.m.
After much discussion and patience, The Bloomington Community Orchard is resuming our weekly Work & Learn Days at the site on Wednesdays, from 5-8pm, at the flagship Orchard site (2120 S. Highland Avenue) - beginning with an Orchard tour.
Each workday contributes to the growth of the Orchard by focusing volunteers on various activities such as planting, pruning, and general cultivation of the nearly 100 diverse fruit trees and plants. Without the generosity of community volunteers, the Orchard wouldn't be where it is today.
Workdays are open house style, so join us when you are able. There is no need to register (unless you're bringing a group)! Just come on by and we'll show you what to do.
Volunteering is open to people of all ages, abilities, and experience. Food and drinks to share are always greatly appreciated. Please come on out and enjoy some delicious food, meet new friends, and contribute to the growth of your Orchard!
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:
As we now invite the community to join us for our weekly opportunities to come help maintain and cultivate the Orchard for all to enjoy, we wanted to share the precautions we are taking to help ensure volunteer health and safety.
To date, we have placed hand sanitizer in multiple locations around the site (by the entrance and shed), encouraged mask-wearing and social distancing of at least 6-feet, and generally invited community members to bring their own gloves and tools, if desired.
Moving forward, in addition to these precautions, we will make sign-ins optional (to avoid touching the tablet, if desired), have only our Work & Learn Day Leader facilitate the removal and return of tools to the shed after cleaning (to limit exposure), only use volunteer gloves once before washing each week, and limit volunteer numbers to 25 participants per Work & Learn Day.
If you are part of a group of 5+ people that are interested in volunteering, please contact us to schedule your group in advance, so we can ensure enough leaders are present to accommodate: Operations@BloomingtonCommunityOrchard.org.
As usual, we encourage volunteers to bring their own water, snacks, sunscreen, hat, tools, gloves, and masks, as desired.
Location: 2120 S. Highland Ave., Bloomington, IN 47401 (across from the YMCA)
Please schedule groups of 5 or more in advance.
Contact: Operations@bloomingtoncommunityorchard.org
