Second Climate Victory Garden In MD Built On Columbia Farm

COLUMBIA, MD — Considerable progress has been made since the Community Ecology Institute purchased a 6.4-acre organic farm in Columbia four months ago, providing opportunities for the community to volunteer there. The section of land cannot be developed and people have been busy cleaning it up and setting down roots.

Chiara D'Amore, CEI founder and president, said the second climate victory garden to be planted in the State of Maryland has been established at the organic farm and a food forest is in the works. An assortment of 100 native trees have been planted on the farm and two Saturdays each month volunteers can lend a hand with a variety of projects.

"A climate victory garden is a way people can use any green space they have at home to be a part of the climate solution. When we grow food at home in a regenerative manner, we purchase less food that has traveled across the country, we compost more food scraps and yard waste keeping it out of landfills, we increase the water holding capacity of our soil decreasing flooding and runoff, and most importantly we rebuild our soil health bringing back its carbon sequestering potential," D'Amore told Patch.

A food forest is a forest filled with trees that produce food, like fruit and nut trees. It's different from an orchard, D'Amore explained, which tends to just have rows of one kind of tree in that it is created to be like a natural forest ecosystem with a focus on diversity, native plants and ecosystem health.

"So it is a way of growing food that mimics natural systems and has a lot of ecological benefits. In addition to Saturday volunteer opportunities about twice a month, during the week high schoolers come out on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. The work that needs to be done depends on the season and the specific projects that are going on, but it can range from weeding garden beds to building compost bins, to helping restore our greenhouse, to pulling invasive weeds from the woods and planting trees," she said.