It’s been a busy weekend, Lewis just ran a fantastic course for all previous orchard leaders on creating a healthy orchard. This involved 30 people from community members involved with orchards planted with The London Orchard Project since 2009. The workshops aimed to ensure the fruit trees remain healthy and fruitful. To grow fruit organically we must work alongside nature to create a healthy & resilient system. Topics covered were:
- Healthy soil, healthy trees – an introduction to soil
- Common pests and disease – a closer look & organic management
- An introduction to planting beneficial plant guilds
- Pruning your Prunus – practical session on pruning stone fruits
The good news for anyone who is not a previous orchard leader is that we are running a version of this course for the general public on Sunday 30th September 2012, join our mailing list at www.theurbanorchardproject.org for details of this and other courses and events we are running. Thanks very much to Hackney City Farm and Grow Mayow for providing the venues for these workshops. This weekend we also tasted the first plums of the season at Haggerston Park, Hackney. Apples have taken a bashing this year due to the terrible weather but the plum trees at Haggerston were groaning with fruit.
Picking the first plums ripening at Haggerston Park