Only a few tree seedling bundles are remaining for residents interested in contributing to the ongoing protection and care of trees.
This season, white spruce and red pine seedling bundles of 20 are being sold by the Rainy River District Stewardship for $7, while supplies are limited.
Fiona Ryle, chair of the organization, said they have run out of red pine bundles but still have some white spruce bundles available.
Trees will be available for pick up at the Fort Frances Library on Thursday, May 18, and Saturday, May 20, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents are encouraged to order their bundles before the pick-up day at rrds.store so that the amount of bundles sold and that are available can be tracked.
“We usually sell them in bundles of 20, if someone didn’t want 20, we’d encourage them to split them up, share it with your neighbours. But if they just want one or two, then they can pop over on the day that we’re holding the pick-up and if there’s any that haven’t sold, I’d happily give out a couple of trees at a time,” Ryle said.
Residents are invited to plant the trees wherever they feel is valuable such as by their home, their cabin, or at a campground, Ryle said, and tree bundles can be kept in the fridge if residents plan to plant them at a later time.
Rainy River District Stewardship has sold about 200,000 trees since the group started, said Ryle.
“Our goal is to promote stewardship within the Rainy River District. So we want to see people out there planting trees and taking more stock of nature, looking at nature in a different way, and promoting the environment,” she said.
She added that there are several groups planting for specific purposes as well, such as on Eighth Street Trail, or a school group who will encourage students to plant trees. Some residents have also used tree seedling bundles as wedding favours, Ryle said.
Selling tree seedlings is only one of many projects that have kept the Rainy River District Stewardship organization busy. In the past, the stewardship group has partnered with high school students or forestry companies in the area.
Ryle said they are always actively looking for new members and new projects to participate in with the community.
“Anybody that wants to come to one of our meetings is always more than welcome to see what we’re about, if they’re interested in joining, just checking it out, or if they have any ideas,” she said.
Meetings are held the second Tuesday of every month at 6:15 p.m. at various locations in the District. Ryle said she will post about the meetings on Facebook.
In terms of upcoming events, Ryle hopes that they will be able to host a workshop about making rain gardens, a specially designed garden bed that collects stormwater runoff (rain and melted snow), a functional and beautiful feature to add to one’s yard.
The workshop will likely take place next month, but an exact date is yet to be determined.
In addition, a mushroom tour will also be held at a later date, depending on when the conditions are right, Ryle said.
“We’re happy to have people who want to come and get involved with things and we’re happy to do things like the tree sale projects,” she said.
