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🌳Orchard Updates & Fall Fest on the horizon!🍂
🌱 Fall Gardens & Caring for Newly Planted Trees🌳<!–
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It has been quite a busy fall and we have lots of updates to share!
We have planted 22 New Fire Blight Resistant fruit trees, and we are giving them extra water with 5 gallon buckets. Please leave these buckets out in the orchard (more info about caring for young trees, below!).
Jovial is hosting a Community Listening Session Next Saturday, October 5th from 10-11am at 4541 S. Braun Ct. Morrison. Please come to share ideas, requests, or other thoughts regarding the Orchard and Weaver Creek Park.
The Weaver Creek Fall Festival is quickly approaching! The Fall Festival will be held on October 12 from 12pm-4pm. We could use support from additional community volunteers. If you are interested in helping out (by helping with the set up, break down, taking tickets for train rides, or helping with the Pumpkin Patch or other activities, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/GE6sDomuVCh27dVp6
In preparation for Winter and frost and to protect against the risk of freezes and ruptured irrigation pipes, we will officially be turning off the orchard and community garden irrigation system on October 15th.
If you have extra produce and would like to drop it off for donation, please stop by the park on any Saturday at 10am!
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This year, with special thanks to a group of volunteers from Swim Tech and The Receptionist, we harvested about 200lbs of grapes! These grapes have been donated to local food pantries, either directly in their fruit form or in the form of fresh grape juice! We have Sherman to thank for making grape juice out of these for community donation. Next year, we have big plans in the works to fully revitalize the vineyards and help out the vines; we expect this to result in an even greater harvest!
Freshly planted trees need additional water in order to become fully established with healthy root systems. To provide this additional water, we are using 5 gallon buckets with small holes drilled in them to water the trees slowly. Major thanks to volunteers from The Receptionist for helping us get 20 of them planted last week!
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Sesame Cucumber Salad!
A little bit of sesame oil, some green onions and peanuts, and voilà! A great new recipe for using Cucumbers from garden!
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Planting Trees in Colorado
can be tricky! But there are a few important tips that can help your trees quickly establish themselves.
Right Tree, Right Place
Knowing the mature height of your tree and whether it can adapt to our thick Colorado Clay Soil, and temperamental climate is critical to prevent headaches down the road. Check out the following link with more information to help you select the Right Tree for the Right Place: https://csfs.colostate.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2024/01/Tree-Selection-Right-Plant-Right-Place.pdf
Here is an excellent list of small deciduous trees for the front range: https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/small-deciduous-trees-7-418/
Plant it in a wide hole, but not too deep.
Ideally, trees should be planted in a saucer shape hole that is 3x the width of a tree’s root ball. The hole should be just about as deep as the root ball but not much more; actually, to ensure your hole is not too deep and not too shallow, you want to check at a distance of 3 inches away from the trunk, with a screwdriver that structural roots can be found 1-2 inches below the surface of the soil.
You can follow these steps with photos to make sure you’re doing everything you can to set your tree up for success: https://static.colostate.edu/client-files/csfs/pdfs/TreePlanting_636.pdf
Lastly, Mulch that Tree!
Make sure not to pile on wood mulch more than 3 inches thick and make sure that it is not piled right against the trunk, this can be an invitation for moisture, pests, and disease.
And for a final step, give the tree some extra water! Here is a document which lays out recommended amounts of water based on the thickness of the tree’s trunk: https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/635.pdf
Fall and Winter Water
Colorado gets dry, especially in the fall and winter. While the snow gives us a bit of moisture, I think we all know how dry it can feel during those cold winter days.
And while trees do go dormant, they need some moisture. You can give your trees a huge pick-me-up and really set them up for a great year of growth, by giving them Fall and Winter water throughout these upcoming months.
Water when the air temperature is above 40F, water during the middle of the day so that it can soak in (ideally to a depth of 12inches) before the freezing temperatures of the night.
This process is further laid out by CSU in this great document on the topic: https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/garden/07211.pdf
Additional Information from trusted education based resources.
This following link is a HUGE document focused on the topic of The Science of Planting Trees. It goes into great depth on this topic and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more! https://csfs.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Science-of-Planting-Trees.pdf
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