Chattahoochee Pointe Will Have Community Orchard

Forsyth County residents with green thumbs will want to make their way to Suwanee’s Chattahoochee Pointe on Nov. 15 to take part in the planting of Keep Forsyth County Beautiful’s new community orchard.

The organization recently received a $2,000 grant to create the orchard, which is a part of Keep Georgia Beautiful’s Community Orchards program, designed to create a better environment for Georgians to live, work, and play in. Forsyth’s orchard will soon bear fruit, literally, and provide free locally grown food to county residents.

“I remember as a child growing up being able to just take a walk and fill my pockets with a variety of fruits, nuts and berries that grew along roads and in public areas,” Environmental Program Manager Tammy Wright said in a statement on Forsyth County’s website.

“One of the requirements for the grant is that the harvest from the trees must be available to the public and/or the wildlife. It is exciting to know that others will be able to take a stroll in the park and pick a fruit or nut from a tree that was intended for that purpose.”

Keep Forsyth County Beautiful is working with Forsyth County Parks and Recreation and the Forsyth County Extension Office to create the orchard, which will feature low maintenance fruit and nut trees like pawpaws, persimmons, crabapples, and Chickasaw plums.