Giving Grove

06/03/2026

Join us for a practical, idea-packed webinar on signage for community projects. We’ll explore eco-friendly materials, budget-friendly options, and creative approaches that help your signage do more than label a space.

Debi La Belle of The Education Fund and Chris Smyth of The Common Orchard Project will be joining as guest presenters!

Bring your questions and leave with ideas you can apply to your own projects! 🌱

👉 Register here: https://www.givinggrove.org/workshops/june2026

06/01/2026

Healthy plants depend on timely care and early action. As we move into June, watch for these common pests and diseases in your orchard:

👉 Spotted wing drosophila in berries and soft fruit
👉 Brown rot in stone fruits
👉 Fire blight in apples, pears, and Asian pears
👉 Japanese beetles on fruit trees

Learn more about how to protect and treat your fruit trees this summer.
Pests: https://www.givinggrove.org/pests
Disease: https://www.givinggrove.org/disease

05/28/2026

When a tornado tore through St. Louis in May 2025, it took down the trees that once shaded parts of the Mitzvah Farm at the Central Reform Congregation.

☀️But with more sun came new opportunity. ☀️

Together with Seed St. Louis, the congregation planted apples, pears, peaches, serviceberry, and medicinal witch hazel, continuing to nurture both land and community even after loss.

05/27/2026

05/26/2026

The Giving Grove is thrilled to welcome Wyld as a new partner! Alongside Seed St. Louis and 15 incredibly hardworking volunteers, we broke ground on a new community orchard in the Baden neighborhood of North St. Louis. It was a hands-on effort full of heavy lifting and a whole lot of teamwork! This orchard will support agricultural education programs while helping provide fresh food to local neighbors and childcare centers. We’re excited to watch this space — and this partnership — grow!

05/25/2026

Want to grow your fruit tree skills? 🍎🌳

We’ve teamed up with Orchard People to offer something exciting for our community — an opportunity to learn more about fruit trees … and maybe even earn a certification along the way. 👀

👉 Sign up for our email list to get updates about this new initiative:
https://www.givinggrove.org/newsletter-sign-up

05/22/2026

05/22/2026

05/21/2026

We always love when GEHA Health employees volunteer at Giving Grove orchards. We can count on an enthusiastic, hard-working crew. 💪

This was certainly the case when their team joined us at the Metro Lutheran Ministry orchard in Kansas City. Together, with orchard stewards and Giving Grove staff, they rolled up their sleeves to spread mulch around dozens of apple trees, helping set the orchard up for a healthy, productive season ahead.

We’re grateful for partners who show up ready to make a difference. 🙏

05/20/2026

Giving Grove Co-Executive Director, Ashley Vernon, spent last week in Detroit connecting with partners, exploring innovative urban agriculture projects, and presenting at the National Urban Extension Conference (NUEC) alongside Naim Edwards and Stathis Pauls, Giving Grove project managers at Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning, and Innovation (DP-FLI). 🌳🍎

Their session, “Fruit Cities: A Medley of Opportunities Growing Fruits and Nuts,” sparked thoughtful conversations about the future of urban food systems and community orchards.

From visiting DP-FLI and touring thriving farms and orchards across the city, to seeing Giving Grove affiliate, Keep Growing Detroit’s Hot Crop distribution line wrap around the block, the trip highlighted the power of communities growing together.

Detroit’s urban agriculture movement is full of creativity, collaboration, and passion, and we’re grateful to learn from and grow alongside so many incredible partners. 💚