100 fruit trees to be planted in West Sacramento as part of beautification project with benefits
WEST SACRAMENTO – Trucks filled with trees will be arriving in West Sacramento as crews begin to plant 100 fruit trees as part of a project that will train farmers.
It's part of a long-awaited project that is a collaboration between community organizations with the goal of serving the community.
Katie Villegas, who is president of West Sacramento Rotary, took CBS13 for a walk along the Sycamore Trail located in West Sacramento behind Westfield Elementary School where 100 fruit trees will be planted this weekend.
"We're inviting the community to come help up," Villegas said.
The path leads to the overcrossing connecting West Sacramento north and south.
Crews are already out picking up trash ahead of a landscaping crew which is pre-digging holes for the trees. It's a beautification project with benefits.
"So we are planting 100 fruit trees from apricots to pluots to plums to figs and they will be managed by the Center for Land-based Learning for the next 10 years," Villegas said.
The Center for Land-Based Learning trains farmers on how to farm. They have several farms in the area. Fruit from these trees will be sold at mobile farmers markets and other outlets around town.
Villegas helped write a grant to pay for improvements needed for the project like irrigation.
"The grant from Sac Sewer was $50,000 and our local 5180 gave us a grant for about $6,500 for a matching grant. So all of that is going right into this trail. It's paying for irrigation. It's paying for the trees. It's paying for the landscaper to help us," Villegas said.
Other groups like Recology and the Yolo Landfill donated truckloads of mulch. The project is another step in the right direction for the revitalization of a green space