Red Poppy in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard’s Pollinator Garden

Blink…and it’s almost over. Poppies bloom for just a week or two in the late spring but when they do, they put on a spectacular show. And in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard, our beautiful red poppies signal the beginning of the busiest time in our orchard.

Now that the weather is getting warmer we’ll be out in the park at least twice a month, weeding in the pollinator garden and around our fruit trees, inspecting our trees for pests and disease and much more. Want to join our small group of volunteers?  Just email Lynn and she will notify you when stewardship days are scheduled.

As for inspecting our trees for pest and disease problems, we have noticed something new (and we don’t much like it). Something is wrong with our cherry trees this year.

Problem in Cherry Tree.. Could it be a sign of bacterial canker? Photocredit: urbanfruittree.com

Some of the immature cherries are turning reddish and they’re not growing any longer. Others look like they’ve been eaten from the inside. And others look perfect. We are currently investigating and when we know, you can find out too by visiting The Urban Fruit Tree Online Education on the Fruit Tree Q&A page. Are you experiencing similar problems? Contact the team at urbanfruittree.com and they may feature your problem in an upcoming blog.

Toronto City Councillor Joe Mihevc helps the volunteers of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard amend the soil around the parks’s fruit trees.

It’s late spring and the time to amend the soil is now, as our fruit trees need a boost of energy to grow well and produce a wonderful harvest for us during the growing season. And who better to mulch with than our fantastic city councillor, Joe Mihevc?

Earlier in the season, we called City of Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation to find out if they could deliver some compost to Ben Nobleman Park for our fruit trees. We discovered that they no longer drop off compost to community groups for park use.

When Joe heard that we needed compost and a way to get it to our park,  he hooked a trailer onto his car and helped us fill it up at one of the Free Compost Days in our community. Then he helped the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard volunteers spread it around our beautiful fruit trees. Now that’s a city councillor who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty!

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