If there’s one thing we continually learn in offering our School Orchard Program it’s that culinary classes are always a hit with students and teachers alike! They’re hands-on and sensory-rich, foster team-work, collaboration, and creative thinking, and offer educators a breadth of content integration possibilities. Take for instance a recent summertime lesson on fermentation we offered … Continue reading Getting Funky with Fermentation – Linked PDF MS/HS Lesson
We’ve had a busy and bountiful spring season with POP’s School Orchard program and community educational initiatives. Since January, we’ve delivered 17 lessons to 6 school orchard partners (William L. Sayre High School, William T. Tilden Middle School, Henry C. Lea Elementary School, Overbrook School for the Blind, Penn Alexander School, John F. Hartranft School) and reached 210 … Continue reading Teaching Tomorrow’s Tenders – POP’s School Orchard Update Spring-Summer 2018
Aphids are a common pest an a wide variety of fruit trees, shrubs, vines, vegetables, and more! Leaves curled end to end are the most common sign of aphid damage. Ants in your tree are another sure sign of aphid infestation, as their only interest in climbing trees is to harvest honeydew (sweet aphid droppings). … Continue reading Aphids and Fruit Trees
Well, we all know gardeners can be a little nutty, but these next two groups take the cake. The Pennsylvania Nut Growers Association (PNGA) and New York Nut Growers Association (NNGA) asked POP to join them at their spring meeting at Delaware State University in Doylestown, PA this year, and it was well worth the … Continue reading Those Nutty Gardeners: PA & NY Nut Growers Association!
After a rough winter with some single digit temperatures, we’re very pleased to see most of the figs in the city sprouting new growth! The amount of winter damage has been very variable from site to site and even one tree to another. Some are sprouting high on the tree: Some are only sprouting from … Continue reading Fig winter die-back and spring pruning
What green, Japanese terror costs more than 200 million dollars in damage each year? No, it’s not Godzilla…it’s Popillia japonica a.k.a, the Japanese beetle (JB)! This tiny import has entrenched itself as one of the most notorious garden and orchard pests in the United States, devouring acres of fields, trees, and shrubs each year. Grower … Continue reading Beetle Invasion! Coping with Japanese Beetles
Have you heard about the Spotted Lanternfly yet? If you haven’t, you’ll probably hear about them a lot more in the near future! First seen in Southeastern PA in 2014, this pest insect’s population has exploded and since moved into New York, Delaware, and Virginia. The Spotted Lanternfly is a threat to many orchard crops … Continue reading The Spotted Lanternfly: New Orchard Superpest?
Amaranth/Pigweed is one of dozens of the most common urban weeds included in POP’s Weed Identification Guide, which is available for order through our website. I must have seen amaranth a thousand times, as an easily-pulled seedling in my vegetable garden—but I never really noticed it until I stepped onto an organic farm in early … Continue reading Amaranth: Super feed, Super weed
Most of us have seen a stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), whether it’s crawling in your house or on your crops. These mottled grayish-brown bugs are ¾’’ in length, six-legged, and have a triangular or shield-shaped body and are probably most perceptibly known for the nauseating stench they release from their thorax when disturbed or crushed. … Continue reading Stink Bugs: A Widespread Orchard Pest
Consider this, in part, a preview to POPCORE3: Plants & Fungi We Love and What To Do With Them on March 22nd, part of our Community Orchard Resilience Education series. We hope you’ll join us to learn new ways to craft from and celebrate your orchard plantings. Shrub: a small to medium-sized woody plant Shrub: a cocktail or soft … Continue reading Shrubs with Shrubs: Incorporating Underutilized Shrubs into Your Garden, and Your Cocktails
Read More
Getting Funky with Fermentation – Linked PDF MS/HS Lesson 
Teaching Tomorrow’s Tenders – POP’s School Orchard Update Spring-Summer 2018 
Aphids and Fruit Trees 
Those Nutty Gardeners: PA & NY Nut Growers Association! 
Fig winter die-back and spring pruning 
Beetle Invasion! Coping with Japanese Beetles 
The Spotted Lanternfly: New Orchard Superpest? 
Amaranth: Super feed, Super weed 
Stink Bugs: A Widespread Orchard Pest 
Shrubs with Shrubs: Incorporating Underutilized Shrubs into Your Garden, and Your Cocktails 
