joy avenue pathway

This has to be a solid 3 because what is here is based on the time of year.
This area is amazing during the summer. There are cherries, dozens varieties of berries, pear trees, a plum tree that is ridiculously abundant, Indian plum, and so on to harvest. I made quite a few preserves! This area continually produced fruit from mid spring to late summer. It’s October and the raspberries are still producing.
During fall and winter you’ll see mostly culinary herbs and perennial vegetables. You’ll wonder why the dandelions are labeled as part of the food forest. They can be eaten. Although it is not encouraged to pull up the entire plant at this area, some folks have in order to make a coffee substitute from the root. There are plenty of dandelions so they don’t seem to be missed.
In the fall I collect items for teas and cooking herbs. I mostly collect tart perennial leafy plants such as Good King Henry, sheep sorrel, curly dock, French sorrel and dandelion greens. Fall is also when I collect rose hips for tea or jelly. T
This is a great place for food forest nerds/​foragers to collect during the ‘off season’. It is less fun for the folks unfamiliar with many of the plants because there are very few obvious fruit, berries, or herbs to collect during fall and winter.
A plant list is located on the interpretive sign near the Bethel entrance.
The pathway contains loose gravel and wood chips. Keep that in mind if you use wheelchairs or walkers. It’s kind of a pain for wheels to push through sometimes, especially if the crushed rock hasn’t been replaced on the main pathway.