In addition to the Tempe EnVision Center (1310 E. Apache Blvd.) being a one-stop resource & Resilience hub, it will soon be the home to a food forest, raised bed garden, pollinator garden, and rainwater cistern.
What is a Food Forest?
A food forest is a diverse collection of edible trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers plants, and roots. Sometimes called a “forest garden,” it features various plants growing at different heights. Food forests generally don’t have to be re-planted year after year, and they attract pollinators. The food forest on the entry-side of EnVision is a pilot project to demonstrate what edible landscaping can look like in our low-desert community.
What is a Rainwater Cistern?
A rainwater cistern is a large storage tank designed to capture the rain that falls on the roof of a building. Capturing this rainwater (instead of letting the water run off on to the pavement) conserves that resource! The cistern on the west side EnVision will hold about 7,500 gallons of rainwater to be used in the native pollinator garden on the west side of the building. One inch of rain on the roof of EnVision will collect about 2,500 gallons of water.
More info on the raised bed garden & pollinator garden
South of the food forest, there will be a dedicated area for raised bed gardens where vegetables will be grown and harvested to use in cooking demonstrations in the EnVision Kitchen. There will be four different styles of garden beds, including a Lehr Garden and ADA accessible beds.
On the eastern side of the building, surrounding the rainwater cistern will be a new pollinator garden composed of Sonoran Desert native plants to attract and feed local pollinators, including the monarch butterfly.
