PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 14, 2024
The Mount Joy Orchard, located on a little more than an acre of land between Washington Avenue and North Street, was created around 2013. In 2016, when a few extra fruit trees were left over, Jeff Tarling, the city arborist at the time, decided to plant them outside the school gates on the steep sloping hill that was then just an unmowed lawn. Aaron Parker and some others in the neighborhood talked with Tarling about planting more trees. Today, the city’s largest orchard has about 100 trees and more than 20 varieties of fruit. Seven regular volunteers now keep the place going. But around 100 people help out on bimonthly work days. Anyone can harvest as much as they need, as often as they need.