Arbor Day Farm is eager to celebrate the 141st anniversary of Arbor Day in 2013, the tree planter’s holiday, which started here in Nebraska City back in 1872. J. Sterling’s vision for a “holiday that proposes for the future” is alive and well in communities large and small, all over the world.

Here in Nebraska City, Arbor Day’s hometown, we’re planning lots of fun.

Special Activities at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City

Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure is open extended hours on Saturday & Sunday, April 27 & 28, from 9am to 5pm. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for youth (age 3-12).

Tree climbing is always a hit at Arbor Day Farm.

Special events for Arbor Day 2013 at the Tree Adventure attraction include tree climbing, cross-cut sawing competitions, Arbor Day Farm wine tasting, face painting, bubble making, live music and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Outdoor Family Fun Trailer.

During this special weekend celebration, Discovery Rides into the orchard and forest at Arbor Day Farm will depart at noon, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, April 27 & 28. We’re hoping for beautiful pink blossoms in the orchard by this time, so don’t miss your chance to see them up-close. Bring your camera! Discovery Ride tickets are $4 for adults; $3 for youth (age 3-12).

The Tree Adventure’s regular features are always available on every visit:
• Climb the 50-foot-high treehouse
• Hike the wooded trails.
• Solve mysteries in the Nature Explore Club Cabin.
• See the feature film, Trees in the Movies, where trees are the stars of the show
• Make music in the Nature Explore Classrooms
• Scramble up the 20-foot Spider Web

Also during your visit to Arbor Day Farm, be sure to stop and shop at the Apple House Market.  Choose from delicious food items, small gifts, home decor and Arbor Day Farm wines — the perfect souvenir from our own vineyards.

Download the Arbor Day Farm Celebration Flyer (PDF), which includes a map to find your way to all the special activities.

The mansion at Arbor Lodge State Historical Park in Nebraska City, Nebraska

Special Activities in the Nebraska City Community

The entire Nebraska City community takes great pride in being the birthplace of Arbor Day, and celebrations happen all over the city to mark this great event every year.

For the 2013 Arbor Day Celebration, the Nebraska City community has selected the theme of “Dig It, Plant It, Grow It.”

Nebraska City Arbor Day events include a 5k/10k run/walk, a parade, a chili cook-off, a home and garden show, and more activities for locals and visitors alike.  Download the Nebraska City Arbor Day schedule of events for complete details.

Regardless of how you celebrate Arbor Day, two simple words sum it up best: Plant Trees!

Preview: Nature’s Symphony at Arbor Day Farm

Apr 08 by Lied Lodge Blog in Food & Drink, General, Nature, Tree House, Wine tagged Arbor Day Farm, concert, Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra, music, Nature's Symphony, Nebraska City, wine, woods with no comments

4/30/13 Please note: Due to the cold, wet forecast for Saturday, May 4, the Nature’s Symphony event at Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure has been cancelled for a later date.
 
Refunds will be offered to individuals who have already purchased tickets.
 
If you’ve purchased Nature’s Symphony tickets online, please call (402) 476-2211 for assistance in obtaining a refund.
If you’ve purchased the Nature’s Symphony Package at Lied Lodge, please call 800-546-5433 and we’ll discuss your refund options.
 
We apologize for this inconvenience and hope to reschedule this one-of-a-kind outdoor music event for a later (warmer, drier) date.
Thank you for your understanding.

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You’ve never experienced the Tree Adventure — or the symphony — quite like this!

Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure in Nebraska City and Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra are teaming up for a one-of-a-kind outdoor music event, called Nature’s Symphony, on Saturday, May 4, from 3:00-5:00pm.

Guests of this event will stroll through the forested trails at the Tree Adventure, finding different musicians from Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, making music in the woods. World-renown violinist Anton Miller will play atop the 50-foot-high treehouse and Maestro Ed Polochick will play piano in the log-beamed Discovery Ride Depot, making for a musical, memorable encounter in the great outdoors.

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Missouri River Cottonwoods: A Plan for Restoration

Jan 30 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, Cottonwoods, General, Missouri River, Nature, Trees tagged Arbor Day Farm, Arbor Day Foundation, cottonwoods, Missouri River, Nebraska City, The Nature Conservancy, tree care, trees with no comments

Employees of the Arbor Day Foundation and The Nature Conservancy were together again on the Missouri River bank last week, clipping and collecting thousands of cottonwood stem cuttings.

Gathering near Union, Nebraska, the volunteer crew set out to collect as many as 10,000 healthy donor cuttings that will be replanted in the Missouri River Valley this spring.

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Members’ Hazelnuts: Now Growing

Jan 22 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, General, Greenhouse, Hazelnuts tagged Arbor Day Farm, greenhouse, hybrid hazelnuts with 13 comments

Late last summer, the Arbor Day Farm greenhouse staff reached out to a select group of Arbor Day Foundation members – specifically those who’d signed on to further the research of the hybrid hazelnut program.

We needed their help, and they didn’t disappoint.
First, a little backstory:

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Consortium Gathers to Discuss Hybrid Hazelnuts

Dec 20 by Lied Lodge Blog in General, Hazelnuts, Nature tagged Arbor Day Farm, hazelnut consortium, Hazelnuts. hybrid hazelnuts with 2 comments

Members of the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium gathered for their annual meeting last week at Lied Lodge and Arbor Day Farm. Representatives from all four institutions were present: the Arbor Day Foundation, Oregon State University, Rutgers University, and the University of Nebraska.

The goal of the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium is to create a world leading research and breeding program to develop hazelnuts as a widely adapted, high-yielding and low-input sustainable crop that is competitive with annual crops for food, feed or bio-energy.

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How It’s Made: Apple Cider at Arbor Day Farm

Aug 30 by Amy S. in Apples, Food & Drink, General, Orchards & Apples tagged Apple Cider, apple orchard, Apples, Arbor Day Farm, Cider press, Nebraska City, orchard with 1 comment

If you’ve ever watched the TV show “How It’s Made” on the Science Channel, you’ll appreciate this brief look at how Arbor Day Farm’s apple cider press works.

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Apple Harvest 2012: Carrying on the Tradition

Aug 29 by Lied Lodge Blog in General tagged apple orchard, apple trees, Apples, Arbor Day Farm, heirloom apples, heritage apples, Nebraska City with 1 comment

Bushels and boxes of apples, circa 1930, from the Joy Morton Orchard Company, now known as Arbor Day Farm.

Apples and apple orchards are a time-honored tradition at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, and the 2012 apple harvest carries on that heritage.

Apple trees have thrived here since 1855, when J. Sterling Morton and his wife, Caroline, moved to Nebraska City from Michigan, and planted several varieties of apple trees on their homestead, the property now known as Arbor Day Farm.In the 1920s, J. Sterling and Caroline’s son, Joy – founder of the Morton Salt Company – partnered with Grove Porter and formed the Joy Morton Orchard Company on this land, one of many local orchards supplying a wide selection of apples for the southeast Nebraska region.

Today, the orchards at Arbor Day Farm are still going strong, even with the very dry year that 2012 has turned out to be. As is typical in drought years, the apples are smaller in size this year but the quantity of apples in the orchard remains relatively consistent with recent harvests.

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Summertime Orchard: Behind the Scenes

Jul 11 by Adam Howard in Apples, General, Orchards & Apples tagged Apples, Arbor Day Farm, orchards with no comments

It’s summertime at the orchards here at Arbor Day Farm, and we find ourselves in the middle of a very hot, very dry spell here in Nebraska City. We doing a lot of the same things that you’re probably doing in your backyard gardens: watering when we can, pulling weeds, helping our plants and trees mitigate the stresses of the season. As is typical in hot and dry years, the apples will likely be smaller in size and will mature faster this fall, resulting in an earlier apple harvest.

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Art in the Woods: Opens June 9 at Arbor Day Farm

Jun 06 by Amy S. in General tagged Arbor Day Farm, Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure, art, forest with 1 comment

There’s a bit of a buzz through the trees at Arbor Day Farm this week — and I don’t just mean the summertime cicadas.

The buzz I’m talking about is centered around the grand opening of our new exhibit called Art in the Woods. This collection of nature-inspired sculptures and artwork will be unveiled here Saturday. These days leading up to the grand opening are filled with artists coming and going, hauling supplies deep into the forest, overcoming unexpected challenges (“…what do you mean the epoxy isn’t holding?…”) and making sure all the parts and pieces are in place.

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