Community Orchard Working Bees- May 2018

The Māngere Bridge community orchard has had a bit of love recently, with a couple of working bees to mulch and prune the new trees. 

Six hardy souls braved terrible weather to feed the trees with manure from nearby Riding for the Disabled, and were rewarded with some unexpected sunshine for their efforts.  Mulch donated by local arborist Peter Bruce was applied on top to supress the weeds, and some general tidying up and adding of windbreaks finished off the afternoon.  

As the citrus trees are still young, all fruit was removed again this season, so the trees can direct their energy into growth.  This will be done again next year as well, so we can look forward to a bumper citrus harvest in 2020!

At the end of May, six orchard kaitiaki were treated to a pruning and espalier workshop with Kerry Alexander from Black Bridge Nurseries in Manukau.  Espalier is a method of pruning a tree so it grows outwards along a wall or fence, making it perfect for small gardens.  The orchard team picked up some great tips and tricks for keeping the trees productive and tidy and were really appreciative of Kerry’s generosity in sharing his time and expertise.  We hope his workmates enjoyed the cake that Caroline baked as a thank you.

We want to acknowledge the wonderful orchard volunteers who’re looking after this patch of our community, including the young people working towards their Duke of Edinburgh badges.  Friends of the Farm are privileged to be able to provide opportunities like this for locals to get involved and make a contribution to their community.  Special thanks also to Peter and Kerry for supporting our efforts. 

Look out for our next orchard working bee in August, where we’ll be pruning the established feijoa trees (details on the Friends of the Farm Facebook page and Māngere Bridge Community Calendar).