The stewardship team on June 2, 2018
The volunteers of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard have been back on the job for over a month now, and until this week, diligently working to get our pollinator garden back into shape. But this week it was time (a bit late actually) to get to our fruit trees! Our job was to weed around all our trees and expand the mulch circles to prepare for mulching next week.
Alex poses beside an apricot tree after expanding the mulch circle to prepare for next week’s mulching.
Giselle, Gail and Ruth work on the cherry shrub and asian pear tree.
It was a cool and relaxing morning in the park where six of us dug out weeds to the sounds of a women’s exercise boot camp in the park. And as we spent quality time with our trees, we realized we were not alone.
Alex and Janina find an exoskeleton of a june bug near the cherry trees.
Alex and Janina first found a june bug exoskeleton near our cherry trees. Then I noticed that small gypsy moth caterpillars were climbing on the trunks of a number of our apple and apricot trees. Those caterpillars like feasting on fruit tree leaves and defoliating them (not a good thing). So the offending caterpillars were removed and smushed. Sorry guys. There’s not room for all of us in our park.
Gypsy moth hiding in the trunk of our apricot tree. We’re hoping to paint the tree trunks white again this year as it is a deterrent to climbing insects.
At the end of our stewardship session, we practiced our selfie taking skills at the harvest table. What a perfect day (except for the gypsy moth appearances). We look forward to mulching our trees at our next session!
Giselle and Ruth wrap up after a good day of tree weeding.
Janina communes with a young cherry tree
Susan Poizner is the coordinator of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard and the author of the award-winning fruit tree care book Growing Urban Orchards. She is the creator of the fruit tree care training website www.orchardpeople.com and the host of The Urban Forestry Radio Show and podcast on RealityRadio101.com.