Our crabapple tree in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard is very loved – but often forgotten. It is hidden away high on a berm where we don’t always notice it. But this year Sherry decided to meander up to the park to check on all the trees and saw the crabapple tree was ripe for picking!
So on a cool and breezy August evening a team of four volunteers including Susan, Gail, Marilyn and Lynn went up to the park armed with harvest extension poles, and got to work! This was just one of a number of harvests this season. Each one had its own joys and its own challenges. But let’s start with the crabapples!
On that breezy August evening, the team of four harvest volunteers started off with the low-hanging crabapples and easily filled up a heavy metal bowl. Then out came the tools as we reached up to the sky to grab those clusters of crabapples that are out of reach. It took a while to get into our flow.
The problem was that there were some fruit laden branches hanging over the fence into the construction area. Gail attempted to climb on the fence (it was wobbly so that wasn’t a great plan) and then Susan took advantage of those long limbs and an extendable pole to harvest the remaining fruit higher up.
It was such a lovely evening and the harvest was a great success. Jack has volunteered to make some crabapple jelly with the results which we will enjoy in our volunteer pot luck this fall.
Now, as mentioned above, this wasn’t our first harvest this year. In July, we had a cherry harvest. All the volunteers got enough cherries to take home and enjoy. But sadly, the crop had been affected by a very rainy season, so some of the fruit had to be thrown away. Still, the volunteers were happy with what they got!
The apricot harvest, however, is a sad story.
Our two apricot trees were heavy with fruit this year! We had planned to get our local fruit harvesting project Not Far From The Tree to help us harvest, but the day before the harvest, all the fruit vanished. It seems someone had come along and stripped both trees of the ripe and yummy fruit.
We are happy to have the public enjoy the fruit of our labours. But we ask in our signage that park visitors harvest modestly. Harvest as much as you can eat while you’re visiting the park. If visitors want to take bags of fruit home, we ask that they come to an organized harvest day so that we can divide the harvest up fairly (and ensure that the volunteers get to enjoy the fruit that they have been working so hard to grow!)
I guess it’s taking a while for the message to get out.
Now remember, having an urban orchard isn’t just about the exciting harvest days. Over the season, about 12 volunteers spend an total of 200 or so hours taking care of those trees and taking care of our beautiful pollinator garden. (Learn more about what we do in this blog)
This August one of our stewardship days was rained out and the weeds started taking over the pollinator garden. So, when we called an emergency weeding session, 10 volunteers showed up and we were able to clean up the pollinator garden in a jiffy! Here are some of the gardening heroes of the day.
One eventful moment during the stewardship day involved the discovery (we thought) of poison ivy in the pollinator garden! Scary stuff! So we marked off the area and asked Parks, Forestry and Recreation to send a specialist to check it. They said that it is an ivy, but it’s definitely not a poison type. Nevertheless, the plant has been removed and all is well.
Finally, we’ll end today’s blog with an introduction. I’d like to introduce a number of tiny new volunteers in our park. Recently, our friends and neighbours have noticed rabbits in our park. And on our emergency stewardship day, a baby bunny appeared in the garden while we were working. We think she was giving us moral support.
In any case, that bunny may be nibbling on some of our plants. But just as we hope there is enough fruit in our park for all of us to enjoy, we also hope to have enough plants in our garden to share some with the bunnies. Here’s a picture our friend Zahara took of one of the rabbits:
As always, I’ll end this blog with an invitation to you. Come to join us in the garden! In a busy city like Toronto, it’s so special to be able to spend some time outdoors, enjoying nature. You’ll learn some gardening and fruit tree care skills. You’ll get some exercise. You’ll eat some fresh organic fruit. You’ll make new friends and join a supportive community. And you’ll have fun! To sign up, email Lynn at growingforgreen (at) gmail.com.
See you soon!
Susan Poizner is one of the volunteers for The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in Toronto. She is the creator of the fruit tree care education website OrchardPeople.com. Susan is the author of four fruit tree care books including Grow Fruit Trees Fast: A Beginner’s Guide to a Healthy Harvest in Record Time. She is also the host of the Orchard People podcast and an ISA Certified Arborist.