Holmes SWCD, West Holmes FFA team up for unique project
Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District’s annual tree sale brought more than 1,500 trees back to the county from Holland, Mich. With more than two dozen types of trees, there was plenty of preparation work before the trees were picked up and delivered.
On Monday, March 31, Trevor Berger, Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District program administrator, packed up an 18-foot box trailer, hopped into Tuscarawas County SWCD’s Ford F-250 and traveled to Holland, Mich. to Alpha Nursery to pick up 13,950 starter trees for Holmes County as well as close to 5,000 more for Tuscarawas County.
Upon his return, Holmes SWCD gathered with about 30 West Holmes FFA students to separate the trees into fulfilling all of the orders for the annual Holmes SWCD tree sale project, an event that took place in the dairy barn at the Fairgrounds at Harvest Ridge Wednesday, April 2.
With 25 different types of seedling trees to separate and prepackage, there was plenty of work, and the FFA students eagerly dug in and went to work.
“People asked for a greater variety of trees this year, so we did our very best to deliver on that,” Berger said.
The program sold trees to individual homeowners, farmers seeking to reforest and even companies like Crow Works, which purchased 400 trees for its employees to plant.
The goal of the SWCD tree sale program is to create tree conservation and promote the growing of trees because of the critical role they play in the ecology.
The program this year was a huge success, with SWCD selling out of nine varieties of trees including American Chestnut, Scotch Pine, Domestic Apple, Paw Paw, Persimmon, Red Mulberry, Redbud, Sugar Maple and Norway Spruce.
“We’ve got a little bit of everything, from Black Walnut to White Pines,” Berger said. “Everything we have is native to our area, and we have decorative trees for the home all the way to farmers who are planting 100s of trees as part of reforestation programs.”
Berger added that 100 of the trees will be planted at Legacy Point Park on Earth Day, and they also sold tree shelters to those wanting to protect their trees from becoming food for deer.
SWCD still has a few of two different types of tree tubes remaining if anyone would like to purchase them.
The SWCD tree sale included orders of all sizes from 179 individuals, and Berger said it all begins with the partnership with Alpha Nursery, which has been working with Holmes SWCD for nearly two decades.
The trees come wrapped in bulk and must be broken down individually and dipped in a mixture of terra sorb and water to keep the roots fresh and watered for customers who can’t plant the trees immediately.
As for the partnership with the West Holmes FFA, Berger said it is a match made in heaven since it would take his office untold time to do the job alone.
“They’ve done a great job for us for years, and we really couldn’t do this without them,” Berger said of the FFA students.
He added that while this gives the students volunteer hours, it also educates them in tree identification.
“It’s really a good project for everybody,” he said.
Garrett Fowler, West Holmes FFA officer team member, said the support they can offer SWCD helps everyone involved while also supporting one of FFA’s most important undertakings.
“This gives us a chance to help out a local organization and at the same time it is helping us promote environment and conservation side of things,” Fowler said. “It’s a unique role for us compared to our normal agricultural events.
“Partnering up with local organizations is something that we really try to do a lot of, and it helps us build strong relationships within our community, and that is something that is so important to us as an organization.”
West Holmes FFA strives to invest itself in all types of community activities, and this one certainly is an important one that creates a major impact on the conservation side of the ledger.
Another unique partnership in the process is the one with Millersburg Ice, which saves its boxes for months just for this moment.
“They set aside boxes for us from January on,” Berger said of Millersburg Ice. “It’s incredibly beneficial to our effort and really appreciate them.”
While this is a monumental undertaking, Berger said the program will leap into overdrive when Coshocton County joins the fun next year.
“This is a really important event for us as an organization,” Berger said. “It’s a great deal of work, but it is also a critical effort that we believe is extremely important.”
For further information and updates, visit Holmes SWCD at www.holmesswcd.com.