Spreading some mulch in the fall can go a long way to ensuring trees in your yard will have the food they need come spring. But it’s not just the trees that will benefit. Picking up mulch from SafeTree in Fenwick will help feed individuals and families in need across Niagara.
“At the end of the year, we have product left over and what we normally do is we [mix] that product in with manure to make a compost,” said SafeTree owner Ivan Fredette.
The company put out a post on social media and the demand was so great that the Maple Street business made more.
Then they had too much and this got Fredette brainstorming.
“We were starting to think of, you know, what are ways that we can use this for good?”
That’s how Mulch for Meals came to be.
“We just came up with the idea of let's just give it away and then we'll collect donations before Thanksgiving and try and feed some families.”
So while supplies last, people can come SafeTree at 1350 Maple St. and drive away with up to two yards of mulch in exchange for a cash donation or a donation of food for Feed Niagara, which represents a collective of food banks across the region, including Pelham Cares, Newark Neighbours in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold.
In total, 1,000 cubic yards of mulch is available, Fredette said, adding that one cubic yard is almost enough to fill a pickup truck.
“So, two yards is quite a lot,” he said.
In addition to helping Niagara food banks, Fredette said SafeTree is also looking to promote mulching in the fall, which he said is “extremely advantageous” and more beneficial to trees than in the spring.
“The only reason people mulch their trees in spring is for aesthetics,” Fredette said. “The true benefit of mulch really comes in fall. It provides insulation for the soil [and] it breaks down over winter. Then when the tree is ready in the spring to start drawing up those nutrients.”
That isn’t the case when mulching is done in the spring, he added.
While the mulch is being given away, green thumbs will still need to register to take part. To do so, visit www.safetree.ca
