School Orchards

Each month, we share expert-led training sessions to help community orchard stewards grow and care for thriving fruit trees. On this page, you’ll find a recorded workshop, a summary of key takeaways, and additional resources to deepen your knowledge. Be sure to explore past workshops for even more insights into urban orcharding best practices!

Interested in attending a workshop? Sign up for our workshop series email list!

Best Practices:

  • Community Resource Sharing – Work with local organizations and businesses to expand your orchard community can help with donations of materials or services to lighten the maintenance tasks throughout the year

  • Utilize Orchard-Based Curriculum – See our section below for list of resources on lesson plans and orchard-based curriculum based upon students’ age groups

  • Provide an Orchard Caretaker Manual – Whether utilizing Michael Phillips’ “Holistic Orchard” or Susan Poizner’s “Growing Urban Orchards” it’s very helpful to have a base of knowledge to provide your stewards as they are learning all about fruit tree care. Stewards as part of the Giving Grove Network have access to a specific manual, contact your local program manager for access.

  • Tool kits – Equipping stewards with the tools that they need to succeed. A basic tool kit would include a pair of bypass hand pruners, loppers for larger branches, a hand saw, a handheld (or backpack) sprayer for applying holistic spray, a harvest pole and container and orchard ladder can be helpful tools for taller trees.

  • School visits – The wider engagement you can achieve in your orchard, the more resources you have available. Contact your local Giving Grove affiliate organization to arrange a site visit or work with local gardening groups and community gardens in your area to get an extra hand completing orchard maintenance tasks throughout the growing season.

  • Invite Guest teachers/workshops – Collaborate with local gardening groups, community gardens, extension office and community experts to bring in guest speakers to maximize the use of school orchard space. Also utilize Giving Grove Education Resources & Workshops as an additional source of information for your school orchard.

  • Create Orchard Maps – Creating a map of your orchard allows you to capture historical information about your orchard. You can also use it to mark the date your trees were planted, pruned, sprayed, planted and in case you lose a tree label, keep track of which varieties were planted where.

  • Produce Maintenance Logs – Allows you to keep track of activities completed in the orchard season and tailor your classroom curriculum to match the best activity of the season, depending upon the age group of your students.

Maintenance Ideas for Students:

  • Weeding Under Trees

  • Spreading Mulch

  • Watering Trees (Using Small Cups or Containers)

  • Planting Seeds

  • Observation Activities, such as birdwatching, orchard journaling or bug searches

  • Harvesting & Weighing Fruit

  • Installing Winter Tree Guards

  • Orchard Sign Making

Activities for Older Students:

  • Serving as “Orchard Stewards” paired with elementary students

  • Pruning Trees

  • Painting Trunks for Winter Protection

  • Sorting & Processing Produce (into Cider or Jam)

Engaging Community:

  • Work with local organizations, businesses, places of worship, and other community groups to conduct an map of your community-based assets (See our Workshop: “Tips to Engage Community in Your Orchard”)

  • Connect with more than one member of school staff, facilities maintenance, and/or administration to have multiple points of contact for orchard decisions. Engage those participants in important decisions, such as regular maintenance plans, orchard location placement

  • Celebrate events in the orchard on a regular basis, such as an orchard birthday, harvest party or Wassail (Winter Celebration) to thank volunteers and build moreFood Sources

  • Provide nectar, pollen, and prey insects year-round

  • Aim for 3+ species blooming per season from diverse families

  • Use native plants suited to soil, sun, moisture

  • Include grasses/sedges for nesting and larval food

  • Cover crops = “green manure” for soil fertility, weed suppression, erosion control, pollinator support

Challenges:

Inherently, school orchard sites may be challenging to navigate because of multiple factors, like teacher turnover, changes in administrative staffing or permissions and summer breaks. Make sure to read the Green Schoolyards for America’s article, “Making the Academic Case for Schoolyard Forests” as you engage community members in your building support for your orchard.

  • Communication within Schools – Establish contact at multiple points within the school community

  • Telling the Story

  • Recruiting Orchard Stewards

  • School Breaks - Engaging Community,

    • Seasonal maintenance as learning opportunities

    • Student & community involvement models

  • After-school groups and ecology-based school clubs

    • Sustainability: who maintains it over summer breaks?

  • Weekly Sign-Up Sheet (Amongst School Families) for Maintenance Tasks

  • Coordinate with Maintenance Staff and provide support and training resources, if necessary

Curriculum Resources:

Testimony:

“I always get to hear more language out of my new Mainers when I bring them outside to our orchard. I also get to see sides of them I've never seen before. Picture a sixth grade girl hauling buckets of water, muscles bulging with pride and joy on her face.

Or a fifth grade student who single handedly picked up the pear tree and carried it to the hole she'd just dug. A student I had been having trouble connecting with at the beginning of the year is now better behaved and working as hard as he possibly can.

He loved going outside to work. Working together side by side with me and his friends made a amazing. All were excited to take care of the trees and eat the fruits of their labor. Making and eating apple crisp was a class favorite.”

-Participant from ReTreeUS Program

Resources:

A is For Apples (Grades K-2)

  • https://agclassroom.org/matrix/lessons/374/

Guest UserOrchard Workshop, school orchards