Philadelphia Orchard Project

Yum! September is always our favorite harvest month and makes us want to dance. Pictured here are Asian pears, figs, maypops, and even a few early persimmons!

All we grow at the POP Learning Orchard at the Woodlands gets donated via partner groups like Get Fresh Daily, Food Not Bombs, People’s Kitchen and Punks with Lunch.

The Woodlands Get Fresh Daily Food Not Bombs West Philly South Philly Punks with Lunch The People’s Kitchen of Philadelphia

This 3 pound pawpaw could feed a family!

Phil with pawpaw baby.

We hope you’ve all had a chance to try a pawpaw this season! Last chance is Pawpaw Palooza in East Fairmount Park this Saturday (check our website).

Grapes are a September fruit too! These are Catawba.

Asian pears start ripening in August and continue through September depending on the variety.

September is peak fig season! Our favorite is the Larchwood variety we propagated from a tree in West Philly.

Trifoliate oranges!

Che fruit!

We are eternally grateful to all our volunteers that help make these harvests possible!

Please join us for another round of POPCORE: Community Orchard Resilience Education! Our final public workshop this year is about Orchard Design. The workshop will introduce participants to food forest principles, base maps, and considerations for plant selection and placement.

We will be using real examples from POP orchards to walk folks through our design process, and you'll get a chance to practice parts of the process yourself. Come learn with us, share your experiences, and build connections with orchardists across the city.

Sat, Oct 10, 1:00 - 3:30 pm
at the POP Learning Orchard
4000 Woodland Ave

🔗 Visit the EVENTS link in our bio to sign up.

One of the significant insect pests still active in orchards into the fall is the greater peach tree borer (Synanthedon exitosa). It can cause major damage and even kill trees in the stone fruit family!

Greater peach tree borer is a moth. The adults have orange bands and transparent wings, but are rarely seen. The larvae are pinkish-white caterpillars that bore into the trunks where they feed just under the bark in the cambium. The larvae primarily attack tree trunks at or below the soil line, but may enter trunks up to 12 inches above the ground. Extensive larval feeding can girdle and kill trees.

Visual symptoms include dead bark peeling off of damaged areas and masses of gummy sap mixed with sawdust and frass exuding from entry and exit holes. Leaves of affected limbs will turn yellow and wilt and the tree canopy will eventually die back. Active season starts in July and may run through the fall.

There are a number of strategies to deal organically with the peach tree borer:

1. Find the entry holes near base of trunk and stab individual larvae with a length of wire inserted into their burrows.
2. Rub off loose bark and saturate trunk with neem oil spray. Or add diotomaceous earth or plaster of paris to a trunk whitewash.
3. You can purchase specific nematodes to apply directly to the soil via water around the trunk or injected directly into borer holes with large syringes. It’s best to apply these microscopic parasites in the evening or on a cloudy day to avoid drying out. Research has shown that the carpocapsae nematodes may be the most effective.

You can read more about peach tree borer and other challenges in POP’s updated Pest and Disease Guide. See the Resources page linked in our bio.

Gummosis and frass at the base of stone fruit trees is the most common sign of peach tree borer damage.

The adult moths are distinctive but rarely seen.

The larvae burrow in and eat the cambium layer at the base of stone fruit trees. They can kill a tree rapidly if untreated!

Open Orchard hours this month are Sat 9/26 from 5-7pm at The Woodlands.

Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and historic Woodlands Cemetery in West Philly. A guided tour of the orchard, nursery, and high tunnels will be offered.

This is a free event but donations to support POP’s ongoing programs are appreciated.

🔗 Check the EVENTS link in bio for details.

Some of the most common questions around harvests are:

1. How do I know if it’s ready to pick?
2. Do I need to put it in the fridge?

In our Harvest Guide pamphlet we try to share just that and a touch more. Check out our most recent blog for more harvest resources on upcoming fall fruits!

What harvest questions do you have?

🔗 Blog and Resources links in bio.

Some of the most common questions around harvests are:

1. How do I know if it’s ready to pick?
2. Do I need to put it in the fridge?

In our Harvest Guide pamphlet we try to share just that and a touch more. Check out our most recent blog for more harvest resources on upcoming fall fruits!

What harvest questions do you have?

Last month our staff members Carolina and Simone joined Giving Grove for their annual urban orchard leadership conference in Pittsburgh! During the 3 day conference we came together to learn, brainstorm, and visit many orchards and tree projects leading efforts similar to ours all around the city.
We were introduced to ways people in the network approach community orcharding in cities like Cincinnati, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and many others. We were also able to tour the impressive Tree Pittsburgh nursery as well as 6 other orchards and food forest around town. Thanks for bringing us all together Giving Grove!

It’s that time of year again! Our annual Afro-Herbalism Workshop on Elderberries is coming up next weekend and we’d love to see yall there!

This workshop is happening in partnership with Mill Creek Urban Farm and taught by Afro-Indigenous Community and Clinical Herbalist, Yam Vallis, who will be leading us in the preparation of making an elderberry oxymel. Participants will get to take home this medicine and are encouraged to check out Mill Creek’s farm stand happening after the workshop!

Registration is required. Use QR code or bit.ly/elderberry26 to rsvp!

Thanks so much to the Weather Channel and Pattrn for highlighting our climate resilience work! The Weather Channel Pattrn

We're holding TWO Open Orchards this month! Sat 8/15 from 10-1 as well as Wed 8/26 from 5:30-7:30, for Nature Night at The Woodlands.

Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and historic Woodlands Cemetery in West Philly. A guided tour of the orchard, nursery, and high tunnels will be offered.

This is a free event but donations to support POP’s ongoing programs are appreciated.

🔗 Check the EVENTS link in bio for details.