Guest Post: Dormant Season Reflections
Sarah Sikich, Orchard Steward & Giving Grove, Inc Employee
Sarah Sikich is a longtime Giving Grove volunteer, a steward to a schoolyard orchard, and Communications Manager for The Giving Grove Inc. In this guest post, she shares her reflections as her orchard enters the dormant season. If you enjoy this blog, consider subscribing to The Serving, Giving Grove’s quarterly newsletter.
As we enter December…
We spend time preparing our orchards for a long winter’s nap. We sprinkle one last application of holistic spray on our trees to keep them safe until the spring. We layer mulch around our trees, bushes, and brambles to keep them warm like mother nature’s own handmade quilt. For most, this is a time for cataloging what worked well and what could have gone better. It’s a time for recording, ordering, and planning for the following spring.
As I put my orchard to sleep, I can’t help but reflect upon some of the most memorable moments in our orchard this year. Moments such as the first breaking bud in early spring; the orchard full of blooms and promises come April; the bright pops of red sprinkled over cherry trees; the first bite of an Asian pear in mid-summer; children climbing trees to get the first ripe apple; and lazy fall days laying under a tree after the harvest.
“My list of orchard to-dos to prepare for the spring is long, but it can wait just a bit. ”
My list of orchard to-dos to prepare for the spring is long, but it can wait just a bit. Instead, I choose to cuddle into my warm home and think on all those beautiful moments that happened in our orchard over the last growing season - the hundreds of mouths who enjoyed our fruit, the dozens of children who tried jujubes for the first time (and loved them), and the beautiful bond that grew between our trees and our students. Even on a cold day such as this, these memories warm my heart.
Tending to a community orchard is no small feat. Providing this resource to our neighborhood and school is a labor of love that takes no small amount of dedication. This commitment to community is often unseen and not acknowledged by those who enjoy the resource the most. It’s easy to feel relief at the end of the growing season and grateful for the dormant season rest. But just like my fellow partners in urban orcharding, the memory of apple juice dripping from a child’s toothless grin makes me excited and anxious to do it all again next spring.
So, as we say goodnight to our trees, bushes, and brambles and settle in for a long winter’s nap, I wish my fellow stewards a moment of rest, celebration, and reflection on all the amazing things we did this year. Happy holidays and I’ll see you out there spraying the orchards come February.
“Happy holidays and I’ll see you out there spraying the orchards come February. ”