What is the Edible Plant Pathway?
The Edible Plant Pathway is located at the intersection of the Mass Central Rail Trail and Upper Church Street in Ware, at 250 Church Street, Ware Ma.
The Edible Plant Pathway is a garden that prioritizes native edible plants and will evolve over time into a small-scale food forest. This means we are growing food in a way that mimics a natural ecosystem. In the same garden bed you may find trees, shrubs, ground covers, and tubers growing together, just like you would in a forest! Visitors are encouraged to visit periodically during the growing season to see what’s ripe and ready for picking!
The grassy path starts by the kiosk where it directs visitors around the various native plants that provide food for both humans and local wildlife. This developing space also provides an opportunity to learn more about the native plants that provide food, wildlife habitat, and beauty to Frohloff Farm.
What you will find at the Pathway:
At the Edible Plant Pathway, there some features that you’ll see from the road. One is the circular wood wall! The wood wall was created as a way to use the trimmings from the apple trees, and acts as a carbon sink. Over time, more tree trimmings will be added to the wall, and it will grow higher. The wood will eventually decompose and keep the carbon in our soil instead of releasing into our atmosphere.
There are three benches inside the circular wood wall. Feel free to sit and enjoy nature. This spot is perfect for a picnic! The benches were built and painted by the teens of the Hardwick youth center in 2026.
And the most important feature of the pathway: the plants! The pathway has many signs so that visitors can safely identify the plants.
Continue scrolling to check out the “Educational Kids Signs” information below to take a peak at the signs at the pathway, and the “Plants at the Pathway” for more resources on the plants there.
Plants at the Pathway
Here’s more information about some of the native plants you will see when exploring at the edible plant pathway:
Herbaceous plants: These plants with softer tissue usually tend to live shorter lives, grow faster & bloom later in the season compared to woody plants.
Woody plants: These plants usually grow stronger stems & outer bark. These plants usually live longer lives, grow slower but bigger, and bloom earlier in the season compared to herbaceous plants.
Educational Kids Signs
These illustrated signs can be found at the Edible Plant Pathway. Each features a plant from the pathway. Follow our narrator, Dee Dee the Chickadee, to learn all about the plants and the animals that eat them! Also featured on the signs are the “Nature Observation Prompts.” Read these for some questions to kick-start your curiosity!
