It is the second weekend in October, 2020 and the time has come to put our fruit trees and our pollinator garden to bed for the winter. And one of our jobs is to spread some fall mulch around the base of our fruit trees to protect the roots from freezing during the winter.

And so this Sunday, our tree group gathered in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard to spread 2 cubic yards of mulch around all of our fruit trees. The team included Susan, Giselle, Janina, Reenie, Dani, Sean and our sister-brother team. We bought the mulch using they money raised in our socially-distanced musical fundraiser last month.

This has been an amazing year for the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard. We got so much work done as a result of a number of new young volunteers. And while COVID 19 has been a challenge, we worked safely in small groups, keeping social distancing practices. And the best part? We all learned lots and had a great time.

But there was one problem. Because of the pandemic we did not have any opportunity to raise new funds for our orchard. We spent about $500 this year on spring mulch and for soil testing and new tools. That left just $500 for us to use next year. We had no money available to cover the cost of fall mulch which insulates the delicate roots of our fruit trees during the cold winter months. It costs $250.

Ben Nobleman Park has become a refuge for so many of us during the challenges of COVID 19. The volunteers for The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard gather in small groups to care for the fruit trees and pollinator garden and connect with each other in a socially distant way.

But the park has also become a haven for others who want to gather in small groups for exercise classes and volleyball. Kerry and Hilary from Marine Kickboxing on Eglinton West are leading kickboxing classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6pm.