Jihane, Giselle and Gail weed in the shade garden in the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard
Where has the time gone? It seems that just a heartbeat ago we were waiting for the spring, and now autumn is just around the corner. August is a busy time in our orchard park, with lots of weeding to do and pruning and cleanup around the trees.
And the insects are hard at work too, gathering nutrition from the native plants that we have added to our gardens over the years. These insects are precious. Many of them pollinate our fruit trees and other plants that we humans rely on for food. Others serve us by feasting on insect pests that might otherwise be attacking our fruit trees!
Yellow plums harvested in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in 2023
We have three plum trees in Ben Nobleman Park and early in the season, the young fruit start to grow. The plums start off green, then as the fruit matures and ripens in the sun, it turns into sweet, juicy plums with yellow skin.
The problem we have in Ben Nobleman Park is that some park visitors harvest the fruit before it ripens, filling up large bags to take home and turn into some sort of pickled plum dish that can only be made with green, unripe plums.
Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard volunteers (from left to right): Zeny, Olivia, Susan, Annie and Giselle. Photo credit: OrchardPeople.com.
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.
