We did it! In previous years we would have 10 or more volunteers to come on mulching day to help wheel huge amounts of compost around the park to put around the roots of our fruit trees. But due to COVID-19, we are now doing that work in small groups.

This past Tuesday at 7.30 am, Cliff, Allan and Susan met in the park. We just had 2 cubic yards of compost delivered and it had to be distributed around the park to the fruit and shade trees that we care for.

Susan prepared the trees by moving back the straw and sprinkling down some organic amendments including Earth Alive Soil Activator, a bio-fertilizer, and a biochar blend from The American Biochar Company. It is a mix of biochar, which increases the soil’s porosity and humate, which provides nutrients and high energy food for soil microbes.

Then Allan and Cliff spent an hour and a half shovelling the compost and wheeling it out to the trees. Once they were done, the next team came to the park at 9.30 am. It included Susan (again), Dani, Giselle and the sister half of our brother and sister team!

The job of the 9.30 group was:

• To remove any remaining weeds in the mulch circles
• To spread the mulch out in a donut shape around the base of the tree
• And then to cover the compost with a layer of straw to help insulate the roots and keep them cool in the summer.

This has been the culmination of weeks of preparation. We have worked incredibly hard at expanding the mulch circles in previous weeks. It has taken a lot of muscle. So Susan wanted to extend a “thank you” to the amazing crew by giving each member of the team a new pair of Gardena garden gloves which are comfortable, washable and come in really nice colours.

What else have we been up to? In the last few weeks, we have started tackling the sedum filled green roof of our orchard shed. Dani has been working to clear out the dandelions that have started to take over.

And Giselle has started turning her attention to caring for our hazelnut shrubs and shagbark hickory trees.

Now this of course is just half the story! Another team of five have been working hard on the pollinator garden and it is looking amazing! (Team members…please take pictures so I can do a blog about you guys in the coming weeks!) The team consists of Lynn, Sherry, Marilyn, Ruth and Gail and Annie steps in for Lynn from time to time as well.

Finally, a word about our pawpaw trees. Gail has been amazing, dragging juice bottles of water out to the park to keep them well watered and they look really happy. On a recent stewardship day she put on some tree gators and when the water is turned on in the park, we will use the hoses to fill up the bags which will slowly but surely hydrate the trees’ roots.

All in all, I want to thank every single volunteer who has spent their valuable time in the orchard caring for our fruit trees and our beautiful pollinator garden and making our park a better and more beautiful place. You are amazing!