City of Reno’s fruit-tree program promotes sustainability and access to healthy food.
Reno is more than a high desert — areas of it are food deserts. To both promote sustainability and create fresh food accessibility, City of Reno leaders accepted a sub-grant of $4,000 from the nonprofit, Nevada Plants Community Forestry, in 2023 to plant various fruit trees in public parks for all to enjoy.
These trees were planted in the fall of that year, and their fruit will become more abundant this spring as the trees continue to grow.
Seeds of Opportunity
Reno’s pioneering project to plant fruit trees in its public parks was a shift from the city’s traditional focus on shade trees. This initiative, in collaboration with Lisa Ortega of Nevada Plants Community Forestry, aimed to address food access in socioeconomically challenged urban areas throughout Reno while exploring the potential of fruit trees as a public resource. Ortega began this initiative in Las Vegas, and it soon swept through the state with great success.
Matt Basile, Reno’s parks and recreation department’s urban forester, was thrilled when Ortega reached out with this budding opportunity.
“Because we’ve really focused on shade trees in the past, it was a neat opportunity for us to try this out,” Basile shares. “I’ve received comments for years requesting fruit trees in parks, so folks could have access to healthy fruit.”
Thanks to federal grant funding through Nevada Plants, Basile and his team could plant these living food sources in socioeconomically disadvantaged public areas within the city. Recognizing the USDA’s classification of certain Reno neighborhoods as food deserts, the city selected its first tree-planting location as southwest Reno’s Miguel Ribera Park.
New Saplings on the Block
In September 2023, 16 young fruit trees were planted in the park. These included specific varieties of apple, pear, peach, and plum trees that could survive the city’s arid climate. The trees also were selected so that their late blooming and early fruiting tendencies would accommodate both short growing seasons and late frosts.
“We used the initial funding to plant the fruit trees in [Miguel Ribera],” Basile shares. “Then, when we talked about the project at the city council, a councilmember from the North Valleys expressed that it would be great if we could get some fruit trees in her ward. I talked with Lisa, and she was happy to support us by funding additional fruit trees, which we planted at Panther Valley Park.”
There, the additional 10 fruit trees included cherry, apricot, and peach varieties. The diversity of fruit ensures a staggered harvest season, offering community members access to fresh fruit throughout much of the year.
While some city leaders want to avoid fruit trees altogether, Basile notes Reno’s pioneering stance in planting these trees in more than one area.
“Most cities don’t want to plant fruit trees because they’re afraid of the mess, so I think it’s exciting to try having some fruit trees and answer some of the requests that we’ve had from the public,” he says.
Fruits of Labor
Once the trees arrived, city leaders organized volunteer events in collaboration with Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, a local environmental nonprofit, to plant them. These gatherings provided opportunities for residents to engage with their community, learn more about forestry, and directly support Reno’s sustainability efforts.
Basile emphasized the importance of volunteers, noting, “People are excited to come out and plant some trees in their community. Their help goes a long way in making these projects successful.”
These plantings align with a growing trend of using urban forestry to address socioeconomic disparities. Ortega’s work through Nevada Plants has focused on planting trees in underserved areas across the state, including lower-income neighborhoods and Native American reservations.
The fruit trees planted in Miguel Ribera and Panther Valley parks were young when they were planted in September 2023, but as trees take time to reach full maturity, this season may be their most abundant yet. As the leaves come alive with their vibrant greens and the flowers begin to bloom once more, consider taking a trip to one of these local parks this spring to discover something a little extra sweet.
RESOURCES
To see the new fruit trees (or harvest them when they begin to grow fruit), visit the parks:
Miguel Ribera Park
3925 Neil Road, Reno · 775-689-8484
Panther Valley Park
850 Link Lane, Reno · 775-334-2417
For details about Nevada Plants Community Forestry, visit Nevadaplants.com.
