Trees and Wellness

    Mentally and Physically, Trees Make a Difference

    By Arbor Day Foundation | June 7, 2024
    Beautiful lake view at Genesee Conservation District in Flint, Michigan

    This guest post is courtesy of Regan Davis Hopper with the U.S. Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program. Find the full story fs.usda.gov. During my dad’s recent hospital stay, I witnessed the healing power of trees.   He was assigned to a room that looked out at a bleak brick wall. Needless to say, he didn’t like it. He quickly grew tired of brick walls and began asking to see trees and get fresh air. He believed that spending…

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  • Lauren Marshall, Senior Manager, Program Innovation
    Uncategorized

    A Lifelong Passion for Trees

    Meet Lauren Marshall, Senior Manager, Program Innovation Lauren Marshall is one of the newest additions to the Arbor Day Foundation team. With experience in both rural and urban forestry, she brings important insights and…

    By Kim Peacock | May 16, 2022
  • Tree Planting and Care

    10 Fastest-Growing Shrubs For 2022

    Bushes and shrubs tie a landscape together. Bushes provide a short hedge or screen, protect wildlife and give areas of your landscape privacy. Shrubs provide beautiful colors in the spring or the fall. Whatever…

    By Arbor Day Foundation | May 11, 2022
  • people planting trees on a farm in Nicaragua
    Global Reforestation

    Planting Trees in Nicaragua

    Restoring Forestlands and Supporting Farmers The largest country in Central America, Nicaragua offers a beautifully diverse landscape. Beaches, volcanoes, forests, and mountains all coexist in a space slightly larger than the state of New…

    By Kim Peacock | April 12, 2022
  • Landscape Design

    Top 10 Shade Trees for 2022

    The right shade trees can add beauty and cooling shade to your yard. And your choices are vast. Check out some of our favorites from the Arbor Day Foundation’s tree nursery. 1. Quaking Aspen…

    By Arbor Day Foundation | March 24, 2022
  • urban wood
    Urban and Community Forestry

    The Cycle of Urban Wood

    Trees are an important part of everyday life in cities and towns all over the world. Just ask any urban forester, and they’ll provide you with a long list of all the benefits of…

    By Pete Smith | February 22, 2022
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    The Roaster Behind Arbor Day® Coffee

    The Arbor Day Foundation has many partnerships and close relationships that expand our reach and abilities to protect and plant more trees. Our shade-grown coffee program is no exception. Every year, we select and purchase hundreds of thousands of pounds of green coffee…

    By Kara Ficke | April 23, 2021
  • Arbor Day

    Celebrating Arbor Day in Your Own Way

    Often, the focus of celebrating Arbor Day falls on events organized by communities across the country and around the world. Tree-themed activities, ceremonial tree plantings, giveaways, even parades. But Arbor Day is a holiday…

    By Kim Peacock | April 9, 2021
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Where Does Your Coffee Come From?

    Coffee from Seed to Cup Brewing a pot of coffee in the morning is a daily ritual for many people around the world. Whether coffee gets you ready for a busy day or gives you a sense…

    By Kara Ficke | March 16, 2021
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Best Coffee Brewing Methods to Try at Home

    If you are looking for a new at-home coffee brewing method, you have come to the right place. There are many ways to brew coffee outside of the standard automatic coffee maker (which you’re probably a pro at…

    By Kara Ficke | March 1, 2021
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    What is Sustainable Coffee Production?

    How the Arbor Day Foundation Coffee Program Approaches Sustainability  Arbor Day® Coffee is sustainably sourced. But what does “sustainably sourced” mean? In the world of coffee, sustainability is a broad term that may refer to zero-waste packaging, organic farming practices, and paying fair-trade prices for…

    By Kara Ficke | February 15, 2021
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    What is Coffee Agroforestry?

    Within the past few years, we’ve started using the phrase coffee agroforestry to better describe the shade-grown coffee process. Since this phrase is still pretty fresh in the mainstream world of coffee and agriculture, let’s look at what it means.   The United States…

    By Jon Ferguson | January 25, 2021
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    The Art of Grinding Coffee

    How do I know what grind I should use for brewing? Have you ever made French press coffee and struggled to push down the plunger? Have you bought a pour-over brewing device only to…

    By Jon Ferguson | January 11, 2021
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Meet Juan de la Cruz Vasquez

    The Farmer Behind Small Batch No. 1 of The Heritage Coffee Series Within the rain forest community of Carrizal, you will find El Naranjo.This 2-acre farm in Honduras is home to Juan de la…

    By Jon Ferguson | November 23, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Celebrating the Heritage of Shade-Grown Coffee

    Farmers have a close connection to the land that has formed through experiences which are often inherited over generations — creating a sense of family identity and tradition. The collective wealth of knowledge and life…

    By Jon Ferguson | November 18, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    How Coffee Processing Methods Affect Coffee

    What is “coffee processing” and how does it change the way coffee tastes? Coffee processing is the overall actions or steps that take place from the time the coffee cherries are harvested off…

    By Jon Ferguson | October 9, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Does Dark Roast Coffee Have More Caffeine?

    A friend asked me, “do dark roast coffees have more caffeine than light roast coffees?”   I replied, no. But if you think that dark roasted coffee is stronger in caffeine, you’re mistaken. There are a few more factors that determine how strong coffee is, the biggest one is…

    By Jon Ferguson | July 14, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    How is Coffee Decaffeinated?

    According to research, two out of every 10 coffee drinkers drink decaffeinated coffee.  Decaf coffee sometimes receives a bad rap by coffee purists.  Historically, decaf coffee wasn’t given much thought in the coffee industry.   Recently however, improvements in the decaffeination process and more attention to select higher grade, raw…

    By Jon Ferguson | July 7, 2020
  • Corporate Partnerships

    Saving the Magnificent Monarch

    Guest post from our partners at Land Life Company. The Monarch’s fiery orange and black wing pattern is instantly recognizable and reflected in childhood drawings around the world. This beautiful, large, and iconic species…

    By Arbor Day Foundation | June 30, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    What is Espresso?

    Espresso has become a staple in many of our lives, where it has been introduced into every latte, mocha, and specialty coffee drink that is hand crafted by your local barista. But what is…

    By Jon Ferguson | June 23, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    How Nitrogen Flushing Keeps Coffee Fresh

    In a previous Arbor Day Coffee blog, we covered a few of the best methods for storing coffee at home to help preserve freshness. But what steps does Arbor Day Coffee take to ensure you are purchasing the…

    By Jon Ferguson | May 8, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    What is Coffee Cupping?

    When coffee professionals mention they are professional cuppers, context is everything.  Although coffee cupping can be considered therapeutic for some, the practice usually involves a professional coffee quality specialist tasked with ensuring the coffee…

    By Jon Ferguson | April 28, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Upcycle Your Coffee Grounds

    Upcycling is a new term that is used to replace the traditional concept of recycling. The idea specifically refers to when discarded products are given more value.  In the case of coffee grounds, they…

    By Jon Ferguson | April 20, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Coffee Brewing: Home Edition

    Whether your go-to drink was simply a hot black cup of coffee, espresso, cold nitro-brew, or iced coffee, now is the time to learn some quick and simple solutions for brewing coffee at home.    Rather than reinventing the…

    By Jon Ferguson | April 9, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    A Coffee Club with a Mission to Plant Trees

    So what’s all the hype around coffee subscriptions, monthly coffee boxes, and coffee of the month clubs? I’ll speak for myself and say that having delicious coffee delivered right to your door is such a fun, convenient, and useful way…

    By Kara Ficke | April 7, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    The Future of Coffee in Brazil is Shade-Grown

    According to research recently published earlier this year, Brazil’s Southeastern Mountain coffee growing region could see a drastic loss of its viable coffee growing landscapes by the year 2050, due primarily to the rising global temperatures caused by a changing climate.  But there is hope, in…

    By Jon Ferguson | April 2, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    What we can Learn From the Fight against Coffee Leaf Rust

    Before the recent outbreak of COVID-19 began in the United States, I wrote a blog about some of the conditions that scientists have identified as underlying conditions for the  devastating toll coffee leaf rust brought in Central America, most recently in…

    By Jon Ferguson | March 23, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Visiting Coffee Micro Lots in Jinotega, Nicaragua

    In early 2016, the Arbor Day coffee program continued to new coffee growing areas that were making new strides in the specialty coffee industry.  Central America has always been a hot spot for specialty coffee production, with the most…

    By Jon Ferguson | March 6, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Do’s & Don’ts of Brewing Coffee

    I don’t know where to begin, so why don’t we begin at the bottom. Let’s talk about the burners in the room, the burners under those glass carafes that keep coffee hot in your coffee brewer at home, office,…

    By Jon Ferguson | February 13, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    What is the Best Way to Store Coffee at Home?

    Working for almost 15 years in the specialty coffee industry, this question comes up quite often. There are several ways to maintain your coffee’s fresh flavors and are usually achieved by simply changing a…

    By Jon Ferguson | February 7, 2020
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    The Seasonality of Coffee

    Have you ever found yourself shopping for your favorite coffee only to learn that the variety isn’t in season? Like other fresh products, coffee has different growing seasons throughout the year. Because of the many…

    By Jon Ferguson | December 18, 2019
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    Measuring the Quality of Coffee

    What does exceptional quality coffee taste like? There are factors that affect the quality of coffee. Since coffee is an agricultural product, it faces the same challenges as most foods such as spoilage,…

    By Jon Ferguson | December 12, 2019
  • Arbor Day Coffee

    The Carbon Footprint of Coffee

    The topics of carbon emissions and global warming have gained a good deal of attention in recent years, and coffee has an important part to play in the discussion. Greenhouse gases warm the Earth…

    By Jon Ferguson | December 5, 2019