Apple Tree Planting Time
These wee apples are so incredibly cute in real life. All three fit right into the palm of my hand. I picked them up at a harvest party this weekend in Yakima, which is pretty much the epicenter of all things apple in the state of Washington. This particular variety, whose name I could unfortunately not track down, is used to make cider.
I have apples on my mind because 6 apple trees, 1 cherry, 8 maples, 7 elms, and 3 dogwoods are sitting outside on my parking strip right now waiting to be planted. We participated in a free City of Seattle program that gives neighborhood groups trees to plant in their parking strips, plus one fruit tree per family. Seattle only has 23% tree cover, which is down from 40% in the 1970s. My block is getting together this Saturday to plant our new trees and do our small part to help the city meet its goal of reaching 30% tree cover by 2037.
If you live in Seattle, you can apply to participate in the Community Tree Program next year (the deadline is in August). If your city doesn’t have a tree giveaway, I still encourage you to get together with your neighbors and buy some trees in bulk. Nurseries often give discounts for large orders and many conservation districts offer discounted bareroot trees (you can search for your local conservation district right here). This weekend I plan on taking step-by-step pictures of how to plant a tree and will post directions next week!
that is great! It’s wonderful that the neighborhood is banding together.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:11 amHow exciting about your trees! I’m especially excited about the one fruit per family tree. We live in Broadview where we, fortunately, have a lot of trees but no parking strips. wonder where that leaves us? (No pun intended)
October 27th, 2009 at 8:21 pmMichelle–I agree! It has been a really fun project for our block. One couple organized it, my neighbor Katie and I attended the tree planting training, and we are all getting together to plant on Saturday!
Tiffany–The city program is only for trees on the parking strip, but Earth Corps (http://www.earthcorps.org) has a program that gives trees away for in yard use as well. I think the deadline for that program is coming up soon and it may only apply to certain neighborhoods, but you should check it out.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:21 pmWill you please post your apple butter recipe? I heard it on NPR but didn’t have a chance to write it down. I love your blog and radio show!
November 7th, 2009 at 8:59 amThanks