Friends of Pipers Orchard

Piper’s Orchard is shaping up with apples doing well, and looking terrific. We had a great group of volunteers from Seattle Works as well as several of our regulars working in the orchard June 7th. Thanks to Don Ricks for leading the work party and to Barb Burrill, City Fruit and Shan Burton, Seattle Parks & Recreation for coordinating. Volunteers covered about 2000 apples with foot sox and made a significant dent into the mulching needs around the trees, which improves both tree health and orchard beauty.

We hope you and friends will mark your calendars for next Sunday, July 13th. We’ll have a work party from 10AM – noon to continue the mulching, with some musical accompaniment from our talented minstrel Will Morgan. Come with some sturdy shoes and water, and a wish to have some fun.

Then from noon – 2PM (or whenever) we’ll have a non-work party.

Come to the orchard, bring something to share (no alcoholic beverages in Seattle Parks), and bring a friend. Maybe we can bribe Will to stay and play! It’s rumored our intrepid work party leader will bring some smoked salmon, and there should be other goodies. It’ll be a great picnic!

While you’re in Carkeek Park, you can also visit Heaven & Earth VI – As Above, So Below. It’s opening the afternoon of July 12th at various locations in Carkeek Park. You can also find it on Facebook.

By the way, there’s a series of photos I posted from July 4^th on our Facebook page. Here are a few of them.

On June 8th we had a good crew applying foot sox and other barriers on baby apples to protect them from pests. We enjoyed perfect work party weather, mid-60’s with the sun appearing during the last hour.

A number of paper bags had already been placed on some of the fruit. In addition to nylon foot sox, a good number of plastic baggies were also put on.

During this time, we also thinned the apples, and focused on the trees that have the tastiest varieties of apples. We were fortunate to be serenaded by Will Morgan and Susanna Wegner. Work’s much more enjoyable when you’ve got some good conversation and music to help you pass the time.

Don shows Bob his battery-operated plastic bag applicator.

We so appreciate the 15 volunteers who showed up.

On May 18th Friends of Piper’s Orchard hosted Viewlands School for an afternoon that focused on bees, pollination, and the historic orchard.

Tammi Lynd coordinated for the school, and was a joy to work with. She promoted the event, created posters in several languages, and got us lots of publicity.

Brian Gay from Parks did a really terrific job planning and coordinating the event, and facilitating the various activities of the day. His craft project about flowers and pollinators was a big hit, and he was expert at pacing the various educational opportunities, keeping the group on task and having fun. The kids and their families enjoyed working with him, and so did FOPO.

Ingela, Don, Brian, and Trent gave mini-talks about bumble bees, beneficial wasps, orchard mason bees, and pollination, respectively. Ingela brought a honey comb from her own hive, and talked about both honey bees and bumble bees. Trent explained mason bees and showed where they live in the orchard. Don talked about predator wasps and how they help the orchard. Brian showed the kids pollen. Each presenter knew just how to connect with the kids, and so everybody had a good experience. After the talks, the kids planted pollinator-friendly plants, part of FOPO’s Permaculture Plan.

Fran spent the day, pitching in to help. Joan coordinated with Parks staffers ahead of time, getting us important help and tools. Meriam came on Friday, and prepped the planting areas. Andy came by to help, and brought his musician friends who played for us.

In addition to Brian, we got lots of help from Parks. Sheila Brown, our new Park’s liaison, dropped by to get acquainted and show support. Rich helped spruce the orchard up, and Junior got us tools and other gear.

The best part of the day, for me, was the kids. They brought enthusiasm, energy, and curiosity to the orchard. They learned about bees, watched butterflies, collected earthworms, planted flowers, and connected with the orchard and its critters. They chased each other around the trees, having a wonderful time. At the end of the visit, they came, with formality and manners that would have pleased Jane Austin, to thank us. Before the event, I would not have thought kids would have so much fun in an old orchard. But there is something about Piper’s Orchard that fosters community. On Saturday, I discovered that applies to kids as well.

All told, we had 33 participants from Viewlands. FOPO turned out eight volunteers, and at least four Parks professionals helped directly. No doubt there were others working “behind the scenes.” During the event, we had some drop-in visitors, so the total people count was about 50.

Following is a gallery of pictures from the event.

A number of new as well as seasoned volunteers showed up for the winter pruning work party on February 9th. We were pleased that a number of trees had already been pruned. Work party leader Bob Baines shared his approach on winter pruning with those looking for expert guidance. Several of us got involved in either moving large quantities of mulch up to a number of the trees or clearing away the large Oregon Grape growth above the Piper’s Orchard information sign, which has blocked a clear view of the orchard from that vantage point. Good job, everyone. Thanks!

Bob discusses winter pruning with some of the volunteers.

Bruce is pruning his “adopted” King apple tree.

Pruning and mulching.

Will’s ready for another load of mulch.

Some good results for Meriam and Dave. And enough twigs left over to make a wreath.

Wilma and Bob review the pruning job.

Check out the improved visibility of the orchard from the information sign.