Heritage apple trees are a tasty reminder of American history.
In many parts of the country, a parcel of land wasn’t considered occupied until there were several fruiting apple trees on it.
This year’s heritage apple tree sale includes some of the oldest known apples in North America including some – Dula Beauty, King Luscious and Magnum Bonum – that originated in North Carolina.
This year’s sale includes more than 25 varieties of apple trees as well as native blueberries and elderberries, figs, American hazelnuts and hybrid chestnuts. Growing trees in your own backyard is the perfect way to remember our history and enjoy the fruits of your gardening labor while supporting environmental efforts to protect our mountains.
Fruit trees can be ordered now and will likely run out before the pickup dates of Feb. 13-14.
To see a full list of available varieties and to place a pre-order, CLICK HERE.
For questions or support in ordering contact Rebecca: rebecca@mountaintrue.org, 828-692-0385 ext: 1003
All pre-ordered trees must be picked up at our Hendersonville office, located at 611 North Church St., #101, on Friday, Feb. 13 (4-7 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 14 (9 a.m. to noon).
Unclaimed trees will be sold at noon on a first-come, first-served basis.
Also, Useful Plants Nursery, a local permaculture nursery specializing in edible and medicinal plants, will bring a variety of interesting plants for purchase on pick-up days.
To request a specific plant for your landscape, you may contact the nursery at www.usefulplants.org before Feb. 6. A portion of their sale proceeds will go to support our work in Henderson County.
At the Nov. 20 Annual Fall Gathering, the boards and members of WNCA, ECO and Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance enthusiastically agreed to move forward as one united organization: MountainTrue. The merger and name change became official on Jan. 1.
We are very grateful to the more than 100 people who came to celebrate this historic moment with us and to all those who took part in the voting process that has allowed us to move forward as a larger, stronger regional organization. Together, we are committed to protecting the natural resources of North Carolina’s beautiful mountain communities.
Thank you for your support and membership!
We look forward to many more years of partnership and success. And we pledge to always remain loyal to, devoted to, and protective of our mountains.
We are MountainTrue!
On Saturday, Oct. 25, Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO) will host an easy half-day paddle trip on the French Broad River to admire the beautiful fall foliage. The trip will start and end at the Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard.
Canoes will be provided but you’re welcome to bring your own.
Cost is $20/per person and spaces are limited. Please join us for a leisurely day on the French Broad River as we admire the beautiful fall colors!”
Call the ECO office for details and to reserve your space:
(828) 692-0385.
Merger Background:
Our boards and staff have been in this focused discussion for eight months. We explored several options for working together more closely, and we’ve talked to our major funders, partner groups, and other stakeholders. The overwhelming conclusion from this exploration was that we should combine forces and, earlier this year, all three boards voted to move toward a formal merger that will result in a single organization.
Here’s why we think a merger makes sense:
1. Through increased local presence, we want to have a stronger influence on policy at all levels of government.
2. We want to build a stronger organization and increase our geographic reach.
3. We need to strengthen our grassroots engagement and involve a broader spectrum of the population to be most successful.
What’s in it for the Alliance? For starters, the opportunity to work on issues in parts of our region where we have not worked much because these sister organizations were working there.
By merging, we will gain members, a new office, and staff in Hendersonville, which will enable us to engage citizens in Henderson, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania counties in ways we have not before.
We will also gain new members in Highlands and Cashiers and begin work on issues there, hopefully so much so that we will be able to re-staff our Franklin office with a full-time person. That will allow us to better serve not just Highlands and Cashiers, but all of the far western counties. In short, a larger organization will have more resources and expertise to tackle local and regional issues better than each organization has been able to on its own.
A stronger, more visible organization will also more easily attract new members and help build a larger community of advocates for the protection of Western North Carolina’s natural resources and quality of life. We firmly believe that the whole will be more than the sum of its parts.
A merger does mean some changes for the Alliance.
First, while the new organization will be a membership organization, new bylaws will change the Alliance’s historical chapter/task force and board structure.
There will still be a way for people to come together around local issues, but those local groups will not necessarily be represented on the board. Instead, the new bylaws will require geographic diversity on the board so that all regions, especially those covered by ECO and J-MCA, are well represented.
Finally, while the merged organization will likely inhabit the Alliance’s corporate form, we will take this opportunity to explore a name change to reflect the merger and to better convey the mission of the new organization.
Questions? Contact WNCA Co-Director Julie Mayfield at Julie@WNCA.org, or WNCA Co-Director Bob Wagner at BobW@WNCA.org.
Thank you for being part of this exciting opportunity for WNCA and for our work to protect the mountains, rivers and forests of this beautiful region!
Heritage apple trees are a tasty reminder of American history. 