Who are the caretakers of our orchard? Volunteers, of course, but also the students at Crestwood. The kids who planted these trees in 2013 are in third grade now, and last week every third grade class had a turn going outside to study their trees and clip excess branches.
Did you know we have an apple orchard at Crestwood?! Thanks to the work of volunteers Peter Plane (retired 4/5 teacher) and Eldon Ulrich (UW research and former Crestwood parent) and a generous grant from Lowe's, Crestwood students planted two dozen apple trees on school grounds. We may think of trees as strong, sturdy, and long-lived, a part of nature that anchors us to a place - think of all the idioms in our language having to do with putting down roots or being rooted to the spot, etc. - but the reality is that apple trees, especially young apple trees like the ones in the school orchard, need a lot of TLC. They need protection from hungry rabbits and deer (hence the white tubes around their trunks and soap in socks hanging from the fence acting as repellant). They need to be watered in dry stretches during the summer (hence the drip hoses you see running along the fence line). They need pollinators like bees and butterflies and friendly wasps to carry their pollen from tree to tree (another infusion of grant money will be used for planting flowers to attract pollinators, hopefully this year). They need their blossoms plucked the first few years to send their growing energy to roots and leaves until they are established enough to bear fruit. And every spring, before the buds and blossoms emerge, they need to be pruned. Who are the caretakers of our orchard? Volunteers, of course, but also the students at Crestwood. The kids who planted these trees in 2013 are in third grade now, and last week every third grade class had a turn going outside to study their trees and clip excess branches. Kids worked in pairs with clippers and loppers, practicing first on some spare branches and sticks before pruning live trees. Branches were marked for removal with yellow string, and the kids all had a chance to cut them off as cleanly and carefully as they could. They did amazingly well. You might think it unwise to hand over such strong cutting implements to 8- and 9-year-old kids, but they all took the responsibility very seriously, and the only limbs cut were those of the apple trees. (You may notice that there aren't any photos of the actual pruning...I believe our volunteers had their hands busy and attention taken up with making absolutely sure everyone was being safe!) When the branches were cut, the kids sat around the picnic table discussed the life cycle of apple blossoms and fruit with Mr. Ulrich and Mr. Plane. When do you see fruit on apple trees? (fall) What has to grow on the tree before the apples? (blossoms) What does a tree need to produce blossoms? (daylight, water, warmth) When do they bloom? (spring) In fact, Mr. Ulrich said, you can predict approximately when an apple tree will be in full bloom (60-70% buds fully bloomed) by calculating how many days the high temperature tops 43 degrees. For every day and every degree above 43, count that as one "blossom degree", and apple trees generally achieve full bloom at 1,040 blossom degrees, usually in late April. There's always something new to learn outside!
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August 2017
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