On Wednesday, August 31, the lawn of the Cook County Law Enforcement Center, across the road from Great Expectations School, was a hive of activity as a new fence was erected to protect about 160 apple trees being planted by Minnesota Conservation Corps workers. Three Minnesota Conservation Corps employees put plastic sleeves around the newly planted trees. (L-R) Danielle Yaste, Amber Huse, and Josh Frick.
As one crew of three to four workers was busy installing an eight-foot-tall chain link fence around the perimeter of the front lawn of the Cook County Law Enforcement Center, another crew of seven Minnesota Conservation workers let very little grass grow under their feet as they hustled to plant about 160 apple trees under the direction of Ray Block, Cook County’s very own version of Johnny Appleseed.
“We are planting a nice variety of apple trees,” said Block on Wednesday, August 31. “We will also plant grapes and raspberry bushes along the back fence.”
The hardy young apple trees are cold weather resistant and came from Block’s ever-expanding apple orchard, which is located about two miles west of Grand Marais on the shore of Lake Superior. Some of the varieties he grows along the shore include Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Fuji, and Mutsu or Rome, and Gingergold. Many of those will be planted at the law enforcement center.
Ray Block taps down the dirt around an apple tree held by Minnesota Conservation Corps worker Danielle Yaste. The apple trees on the lawn of the Cook County Law Enforcement Center came from Block’s orchard but were paid for by a private party. Block has established about a half dozen orchards in the area and will continue to plant apple trees as a natural firebreak and a great source of nutrition for the county.
Holes were dug every three feet and filled with dirt—donated by Edwin E. Thoreson, Inc. and mulch—donated by Buck’s Hardware Hank. Wood donated by Hedstrom Lumber Company outlines the rows and keeps them separated. Water will be collected from the roof of the nearby Search and Rescue building and directed to the trees when they need to be watered.
“After a couple of years the trees should be strong enough so they won’t need much watering,” said Block.
“I plan to put matting down between the trees to stop the weeds from growing for most of the rows but I am also going to experiment with rock in some places,” Block explained.
Most of the Minnesota Conservation Corps crew members, who came from the Moose Lake area, are college educated and are employed full time for 10 months, said Amber Huse, who was busy bringing trees to her co-workers Josh Frick and Danielle Yaste. “We work around the Northland, even in the Twin Cities on rain gardens, but this is the first apple orchard we have helped with,” Huse said with a smile.
Yaste said Diane Booth, who is the Cook County Community Center/ Extension Director and a Master Gardener, was also on hand to help give instructions. “She’s so nice, so knowledgeable and helpful.”
Helping to fund the project was a grant for $15,909 from the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation. That money was mostly used to purchase and install the fencing and the water catchment system, with some dollars going towards purchasing other plantings for the law enforcement center. Booth said there was also $1,600 in her department’s budget that would be used as matching funds.
All told the cost of the project was $32,219, but $14,710 of that came from in-kind donations. Those include donated work or materials from McMillan’s Tree Service ($920), Hedstrom Lumber ($2,500), Cook County Soil & Water ($1,500), University of Minnesota Master Gardeners ($300), Erik Hahn, Great Expectations School, ($750), Cook County Extension ($3,040), Edwin E. Thoreson Construction ($1,500), and $3,000 was donated by a private individual for the purchase of the trees. Block also donated a $1,200 Minnesota Department of Agriculture grant to the project.
The University of Minnesota Cook County Master Gardeners and Extension will also help and provide an ongoing funding source for plantings, repair of the irrigation system, and provide other technical assistance. And Eric Hahn, a science teacher at Great Expectations School is developing a curriculum for students K-8 that will use the orchards as a living lab for students.
Block said the apple trees would be cared for by school children from Great Expectations and Cook County ISD 166, plus by community volunteers and Sentence-to- Serve adults.
“Once they are mature each tree will produce about two bushels of apples. They will go to the school and to law enforcement,” he said.
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