The Foodscape Master Plan, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 2023

Abstract

The Foodscape features plants with edible qualities, and is a canvas for visitors to learn creative, sustainable, and beautiful ways to grow their own food. By definition, a “foodscape” is a space where people acquire and prepare food, talk about and learn about food, and connect with food. To this we added our vision for the Foodscape, which is to celebrate the beauty of food crops as elements of a managed landscape. The Foodscape gardens are located around the Burton and Virginia Myers Education Center at the Farm at the Arb. There are cement and woodchip paths winding through the Foodscape. The Foodscape was planted in summer 2023 by UMN Extension Educators Julie Weisenhorn and Jon Trappe, and a team of dedicated Master Gardener volunteers. It surrounds the new Burton and Virginia Myers Education Center, which opened in March 2023. The Myers Center houses the Arboretum Adult Education Program and the UMN Extension Master Gardener Program. It also has a state-of-the-art educational demonstration kitchen and restrooms.