Basics of School Orchard Stewardship

By Rachel Lyn Rumson, Regional Program Manager, ReTreeUS

The Orchard is a Learning Platform

To realize its potentiaI, it requires regular maintenance, student engagement and community involvement. It is advisable to visit the orchard at least once a week during the growing season (March-November). When you are visiting in the fall, here is a short list of some maintenance tasks.

ReTreeUS Fall Orchard Checklist:

Harvest: Harvest apples, pears and measure yield by weight. Deliver harvest to food banks or to nutrition programs for processing.
Watering (through October)
Process Apples: Dehydrate Apple slices. Make Cider and Pies.
Rodent Protection: Cover bases of trees with rodent protection. Wrap new trees with tree wrap to prevent rabbits, voles and mice from chewing bark.
Aerate: use a fork to aerate the soil and add .5-1″ compost around the tree to the drip-line.
Clean up: If there are caterpillars nests, signs of peach leaf curl or fungal infections on leaves, remove them.
Mulch: Put the orchard to bed for winter with a blanket of mulch. Use shredded leaves, seaweed or ramial wood chips. Mulch trees with 2-3″ of wood chips in 18″ radius around trees. It is optional to expand the mulch ring around trees to match the canopy size. Pull mulch away from trunks. Make sure mulch is not touching the tree stem, as this will girdle the tree.
Monitor: Look for damage/evidence of pests for caterpillar nests, evidence of rodents, deer nibbles, or any other signs of damage

Share the Harvest!

Kids are proud when they see the fruits of their labor show up in the cafeteria. Forming a relationship with the School Nutrition Director to share the harvest with the school is a win-win. When there is even more than the cafeteria can take, check out the local food pantries, nursing homes and manor houses. Consider the bus driver’s garage, principal’s office and superintendent’s office too!