Part 2: Growing and Giving Away Fruit
In Part 1 of this series, we
looked at how Brovold Community Orchard came into existence and what we’ve chosen
as our mission. In Parts 2 through 5 we’ll examine in detail our four-part
mission statement and what it means.
The first pillar of our mission
statement is to provide free nutritious organic fruit to area residents.
Brovold Community Orchard currently has 82 fruit trees. Included in that total
are 46 apple trees, 16 pears, seven plums, five apricots, three crabapples, two
sweet cherries, and one each tart cherry, plumcot, and peach.
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Orchard in bloom. Photo Jay Styles.
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Many
of the apples and pears were planted by Norman Brovold in the 1980s, so they
are 40 or more years old now. Apple and pear trees can live to 100 years under
ideal conditions, but the older trees in our orchard have at times suffered
damage that may have shortened their lives. Norman, particularly in his later
years, found it difficult to keep up with all the work the orchard required.
Other people sometimes agreed to help him, and though well intended, some of
those people lacked skill in orchard care. Many of the older trees in the
orchard have been damaged around their bases by mowing machines or weed
whackers, and this has led to heart rot in the tree trunks. Other trees were
very severely pruned in one unfortunate event years ago, and this led to the
death of some trees and permanent damage and decline to others. Some of the
remaining trees are infected with fireblight, a common disease of apple trees
that can disfigure and eventually kill the trees.
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| Fall harvest |
As a result of the current orchard conditions,
our Board of Directors decided to begin a tree replacement program. In the past
two years, we’ve planted 21 new fruit trees in the orchard. The new trees have
been chosen specifically for their cold hardiness and disease resistance, as
well as for providing more fruit diversity. The apricots, plums, cherries,
plumcot, and peach were selected to provide more fruit choices for those who
harvest fruit from the orchard. We will continue the tree replacement program
until all the damaged, decadent, or diseased trees have been
replaced by healthy, young, vigorous ones. Any older, but still healthy, trees
will of course be retained.
One question we often get is
what varieties of apples we grow. Unfortunately, Norman didn’t keep records on
the trees he planted, so many of our trees are of unknown varieties. We’ve been
able to figure some of them out by comparison to known pictures and written
descriptions, and of course, we know the varieties we’ve recently planted. The
list below shows the varieties we know, but there are still many unknowns.
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Apples
Arkansas black
Enterprise
Freedom
Golden delicious
Jonagold
Liberty
Macoun
McIntosh Red delicious
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Pears
Bartlet
Clapp’s favorite
d’Anjou
Luscious
Nova
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Plums
Mirabelle de Bitterroot
Stanley
Superior
Plumcots
Tipson
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Cherries
Danube (tart)
Lapins (sweet)
Gold (sweet)
Apricots
Turkish cowboy
Peaches
Contender
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As with any agricultural
operation, fruit production in Brovold Orchard varies from year to year due to
the weather and other factors. In 2023, our best year since we’ve started
keeping records, we gave away about 6,700 pounds of fruit. This number could go
up as we continue to restore the orchard to healthier conditions.
In any orchard, some fruit drops
to the ground early through natural self-thinning, windfall, or other reasons.
This fruit is not good for human consumption, but it makes great livestock feed
for pigs, chickens, cows, horses, and other animals. We love it when people
come and pick the fallen fruit up for their animals because it cleans up the
orchard and helps curb diseases and insect pests. We have a few people who do
this regularly each year, but we always have a surplus of fallen fruit. If
you’d like to help us keep the fruit picked up, let us know and we’ll be happy
to accommodate your schedule.
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| Happy child picking apples. |
When
it comes to harvesting fruit for people to eat, we welcome everyone to our
orchard when the fruit is ripe. We post notices on Facebook and send out emails
to let people know when to come and pick. If you’d like to be on our email list
to receive notifications, please let us know.
Norman Brovold was passionate
about sharing his fruit with the community, and our way of honoring him is to
continue inviting everyone to the orchard in picking season, regardless of who
they are, where they live, or what they do. All are welcome here. We proudly
say, however, that there is a special place in our hearts for those who need
just a little bit of extra help in their lives. We are especially pleased when
we give away fruit to low-income families, seniors on fixed incomes, single
parents, and others who benefit from the enhanced food security our orchard can
provide. With all the world’s problems, giving away fruit may seem like a small
act. But helping each other is what makes us a community, and if everyone did
that, the world would be a much better place.
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| Volunteers picking up pruned branches. |
We
will end Part 2 of this series by acknowledging that sharing works best when it
goes in both directions. We never ask anyone to pay for fruit from Brovold
Community Orchard, but some people choose to make monetary donations to our
nonprofit to help keep the orchard operations going. It does take money to
operate an orchard, so these donations are always genuinely appreciated. Other
people choose to give back with their time by volunteering to help with orchard
maintenance. We always have useful work for volunteers, and we appreciate their
contributions as much as those who give cash. During the growing season, we
hold volunteer work days one Saturday per month. Those who participate have a
great time with friends, complete some very worthwhile projects, and get a
fabulous lunch. Look for our notifications about when these work days occur,
and if you want to take part, just show up.
In Part 3 of this series we’ll look at the second
pillar of our mission statement: providing youth and adult education in
agriculture and natural resources. Look for that article soon.
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