THE LEAFLET

Dreaming Out Loud Tree Giveaway

October 15, 2024 /
Vince Drader

Dreaming Out Loud (about Trees!)

Last Saturday, Casey Trees celebrated with one of our community partners, Dreaming Out Loud, at their 2024 Fall Festival! This yearly event brings the local community together at Kelly Miller Farm in Ward 7 for an unforgettable day of food, culture, and connection!

Dreaming Out Loud is a nonprofit that is dedicated to “rebuilding urban, community-based food systems through cooperative social enterprise: increasing access to healthy food, improving community health, supporting entrepreneurs and cooperatives from low-income communities; and creating opportunities for at-risk residents to earn sustainable, family-supporting wages and build wealth.” In 2018, Dreaming Out Loud launched The Farm at Kelly Miller, a two-acre urban farm situated behind Kelly Miller Middle School in Ward 7. The farm includes a production farm, youth garden, community raised beds, fruit tree orchard, multi bin composting system, and event space. Casey Trees is proud to be part the vision for this farm and community space, having planted many trees at the farm and at Kelly Miller Middle School – some as recently as last spring!

At this year’s Fall Festival, Casey Trees, alongside many other partners, focused on the role trees play in our communities, their health, and overall well-being. We spent the day giving away trees for DC residents to plant on their own properties. Specifically, giving away Sweetbay Magnolias (Magnolia virginiana), a native tree known for its elegant form and fragrant flowers, and a welcome addition to any landscape in the city. This small but mightly semi-evergreen to evergreen tree has distinctive features, including glossy green leaves with silvery undersides that shimmer in the wind, and creamy-white, lemon-scented flowers that bloom from late spring through summer. The Sweetbay Magnolia is remarkably adaptable, thriving in wet, acidic soils and tolerating periodic flooding, making it an excellent choice for rain gardens or areas where it contributes to wetland ecosystems, helping to prevent erosion and filter water.

Residents came to the Fall Festival ready to accept their new Sweetbay Magnolias and couldn’t wait to get home to plant! See below for some pictures from the festival, and remember – DC residents can plant Sweetbay Magnolias and several other tree species completely free through our free tree programs, or get money back on trees planted through the rebate program.