Brovold Orchard: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and What We Do. Part 4 - Outdoor Recreation in the Orchard

Part 4 - Outdoor Recreation in the Orchard

With another busy growing season coming to a close at Brovold Community Orchard, it’s time to examine the third pillar of our 4-part mission statement: providing day-use outdoor recreation in an orchard setting.

Montana is blessed with an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities, including backpacking, camping, hunting, fishing, rafting, and on and on. In the midst of all these outdoor opportunities, why would Brovold Orchard want to make outdoor recreation a part of our mission? Because when it comes to experiencing the outdoors, the more opportunities the better. There is a lot to be said for having a diversity of opportunities, and Brovold Orchard can provide some experiences that other recreational venues cannot.

Simply bringing your family to an orchard and picking fruit is, in itself, a recreational experience that many people enjoy. Some orchards have even built an agrotourism business around allowing people to experience the beauty and excitement of spending time in their orchard. Adults doing things with their children in nature builds lifetime memories, and the smiles we usually see on both kids’ and their parents’ faces assures us they are having a great time when they visit Brovold Community Orchard.

Many people enjoy learning about new things. The adults and kids who attend educational events at the orchard, whether sponsored by Brovold Orchard or one of our participating schools, find the time rewarding. Those who attend our volunteer work day events and other volunteer opportunities always seem to have a good time while sharing learning or work experiences with others in their community. This helps build community cohesiveness and overall community wellbeing.

There is potential for other kinds of recreational experiences at Brovold Orchard, and as with the education component of our mission, recreation is currently mostly aspirational with a lot of room to expand. One big thing the orchard has going for it is how close it is to where people in the community live. Brovold Orchard is within walking distance for many people in Alberton, so they don’t have to drive long distances to the mountains or spend big money on gas to recreate. You also don’t have to do a lot of planning for a trip to the orchard or spend time packing up your gear – you just show up. One recreation project we would like to undertake is building a hiking trail around the orchard perimeter for short day hikes. This would be particularly valuable for seniors who could visit frequently to get a little outdoor time for exercise and socializing with friends. We would like to install park benches along the hiking path to sit and chat, watch birds, or simply enjoy the sunshine and beautiful mountain scenery. Exhibits of antique farm machinery and interesting plants, like our unique Camperdown elm tree, along the path would enhance the visitor experience by learning new things or reminiscing about old times. Interpretive signing at these exhibits would enhance the experience by explaining what visitors are seeing. Back to bird watching, there is a great variety of interesting birds that visit or live in Brovold Orchard. We’ve talked about installing an online streaming “bird cam” at our heavily used resident bird bath for bird enthusiasts and homebound individuals to keep track of our avian friends.

Another element we would like to add to the recreational capacity of the orchard is an open pavilion where families could enjoy picnics or other outdoor events. And someday, funding permitting, we would like to add a nice greenhouse that the community could share for starting plants for their own gardens in the springtime. We’ll talk more about that in Part 5 of this series when we will look at the final element of our mission statement, providing a venue for community events. But, by now it should be clear that all four elements of our mission statement are linked together. Growing and giving away fruit leads to opportunities to learn more about growing fruit yourself. That in turn leads to opportunities to recreate in the orchard as you learn and work to help maintain it. And finally, learning and recreating needs a place to happen, and the orchard can provide that venue.

Thanks for reading, and look for our concluding Part 5 of this series soon.

Note: Images in this article are AI generated as examples only.

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