Merifield Appleseed Project
2nd Annual Orchard Day
November 9 (or 16), 2019, 11:00 am

We are very grateful to MALA for agreeing to continue supporting the Merifield Appleseed Project, despite the challenges of Spring and Summer 2019.

Our plan is to have a second Apple Orchard Day on Saturday, November 9 (with a rain date of Saturday, November 16). We will be gathering beginning at 11 am to plant 14 grafts from the old apple trees and 24 heirloom trees to replace those that died in the drought.

We will also have the Orchard bulletin board in place to show the history of the Orchard and the donors and dedications. Please plan to join us for this celebration and for the apple goodies, cider, hot dogs, etc. following the planting. Prior to the planting day, we will also be working on the site. This will entail a cultivation of all of the planting sites and construction of more deer-proof fencing. Please let us know whether you would like to be a part of any of these activities by replying to Lee Baldwin, lbaldwin01@aol.com, 919-846-8001, or 919-623-3556. If you think you would like to be part of an Apple Orchard committee to help with ongoing maintenance, please let us know!

Also, if you think that you would like to contribute a donation for this year’s replanting (or for the grafts from the old trees), thank you! We would hope that $60.00 per tree will cover the costs of purchasing the grafts/replants, and if you wish to add a dedication.

Please see the spreadsheet below that shows the orchard from 2018 and the new description of the Appleseed Project. The tree locations in red on the spreadsheet are the trees that we will be replacing. We may not be able to replace the American Summer Pearmains, but have ordered Bevan’s Favorite as a back-up. Similarly, we are either going to replace the Arkansas Black with Old Fashioned Winesap, or get more Arkansas Black, depending on the recommendation of our orchardist, David Vernon. Thank you for your enthusiasm and support of our orchard!