HARWICH – Eversource is teaming up with the Food Forest initiative of Cape Cod and the Town of Harwich Water Department to plant 500 edible and pollinator plants, shrubs, and low hanging trees.
They would be located within the energy company’s power-line easement in the area known as the Pleasant Bay Easement.
The partnership hopes to create a sustainable landscape comprised of various edible plant species, including raspberry, blueberry and hazelnut, accessible to the public.
“We think that this form of agriculture, called restoration agriculture offers real economic potential for Cape Cod,” said Secretary of the Food Forest Initiative of Cape Cod Rand Burkert.
The Harwich Water Commission owns the land and granted permission for the habitat to be cultivated and public access.
“The goal is that an individual can come down, and know that it is blueberry picking season time and enjoy a great walk in a nice nature area and maybe grab some desert on the way,” said Eversource Manager of Vegetation Paul Sellers.
In addition to being a walking commons for the public, where the community can walk and snack on a variety of local fruits, it is also an experiment with the genetics of hazelnuts and how well they do on Cape Cod.
The partnership hopes that the area will also be used as a teaching lab for local schools.
“It is a citizen science project, we will be observing it over time, the success of the species, the degree to which wildlife enjoys the space, in the future were going to plant pollinator plants for further experimentation with other species. That can all be interactive, we do hope local schools like Monomoy High school, or Nauset high school or any of the local middle schools can come here and see this as an experiment being realized by the community,” said Burkert.
Volunteers and Eversource employees followed strict social distancing while working on the area.
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