Guthrie Center High School’s FFA chapter recently received a $2,500 grant from DuPont Pioneer and the Iowa Soybean Association as part of its “Be the Seed” Grant Program, becoming one of just 12 chapters in the state to receive such a grant.

FFA advisor Jim Calvert says his students will use the funds to develop a community orchard in Guthrie Center featuring 15 different fruit trees, 300 feet of grapes and fruit shrubs of gooseberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Students will be busy at work to begin the planting process once spring rolls around, and while Culvert says it will be a couple of years before the orchard realizes its full potential, he’s excited about the project’s long-term possibilities.

“Fruit trees should last 30 or 40 years–long after I’m gone here.  That was kind of our process was we’ll get it started, and it’s something the kids can use educationally and the community hopefully gets some good out of it.  Our other thought was if the community doesn’t come down and pick it, then we’ll pick it and take food to the food bank or maybe even use some of it in the school’s hot lunch program.”

FFA member Cassidy Simmons was one of the students who worked on the “Be the Seed” grant application, and now that they’ve received the grant, she describes what she is most looking forward to about the community orchard project.

“I love planting all-in-all, but seeing the community’s reaction.  It will be something down the road for when the population keeps growing and stuff, and hopefully it can just keep multiplying each year.”

Calvert says the orchard will be planted on a side hill north of the high school’s greenhouse and shop area that isn’t currently being utilized.  He expects planting to begin as soon as the winter frost is gone.