The cherry trees have been harvested. Our apple trees are boasting heavy branches laden with young fruit. And the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard continues to thrive under the care of its enthusiastic volunteers.
Today, Rael led the way, arriving early to open the shed and get the team organized. Joining him were Annie, Olivia, Susan, Zeny, Giselle and our new volunteer, Ali.
One of our tasks for the day was wrapping up the summer pruning in the orchard. Rael worked on an apricot and apple tree, Susan took care of the old plum, and Zeny focused on pruning one of our two Siberian peashrubs.
Peashrubs are nitrogen-fixing plants that are said to support nearby fruit trees. According to permaculture experts, each time you prune a branch from a nitrogen-fixing tree, linked roots from that tree die off and release nitrogen from the nodules on those roots. Nitrogen is a primary nutrient that fruit trees need.
Meanwhile, Giselle and Annie were busy tending to the pollinator garden, ensuring our buzzing friends have everything they need. Olivia lent a hand by providing our fruit trees with a homemade molasses and fish-based fertilizer for that extra nutritional boost.
At a stewardship day earlier this month, we had an especially interesting job to take care of.
Last year, we grafted several scions (branches snipped off fruit trees that produce the type of fruit we want to grow) onto an existing rootstock in the orchard. That rootstock was salvaged from a sick apricot tree that we had to cut down years ago. To our delight, many of the grafts thrived, resulting in a variety of healthy new branches growing out of the rootstock.
This year these newly grafted branches were strong and healthy. So it was time for us to choose one and remove the others so that our new tree would have a single trunk. As a group, we carefully selected our favorite graft, and Sara, a recent graduate of Orchard People’s fruit tree care course, Certificate in Fruit Tree Care, skilfully took charge of the pruning.
Well, it’s almost August and we are well into the growing season. It’s been great so far! Congratulations to Rael for leading the group today (his first time!) and also to Gail who has acted as the lead in a number of stewardship days this year. We are a great team!
Also, a warm welcome to new volunteer Ali who came to the park to join us for the first time today. Ali is on the committee that will work to develop signage for the park. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Are you interested in joining our group? We need people to participate in gardening and tree care. But even if you’re not a gardening type, you can still join us! We also need people interested in planning events, writing blog posts, and organizing other activities. To join us, send an email to growingforgreen (at) gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you in the orchard!
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.