Wisdom of the Orchard

Jim Hollicky holding up some of the fruit of his labour in Sunnyside Orchard

Jim Hollicky, dedicated steward of the Sunnyside Orchard, knows just how important producing your own food is. Growing up in a small town in Saskatchewan during the "dirty thirties," Jim experienced what it was like to live off the land and do without the convenience of grocery stores. We were so lucky to have him share these memories with us in the warmth of the sun-blissed orchard.

As we strolled together through the Orchard it was evident that these trees and plants weren't just items in a shopping cart, but to Jim, they were living beings with histories of their own. We learned about how the variable Calgary winters had affected the growth of the Valentine Cherries, and how important it is to thin out the immature apple fruit so they have room to develop into big tasty fruit. We also heard the lovelorn story of the pear tree couple and how, through an act of vandalism, one  tree was destroyed, leaving the partner to live a fruitless life. We also witnessed a miracle of nature when seeing for our very own eyes a baby fruit on the single pear tree in the orchard.  Jim suspects the pear received the pollen from another tree, a new love from the yard of a neighbour in the community.

The children were excited to discover the massive strawberry patch amongst the flowers in the orchard garden, and even more excited to hear that they were welcome to eat the delicious berries whenever they pleased.

After our orchard tour, we settled in to make pinwheels for our gardens. Pinwheels are great deterrents of birds and other animals intent on pecking away at the food growing in the garden. We coloured the square paper on both sides and cut toward the centre from each corner. Then we glued the holes in each corner into the centre hole. We placed colourful beads on the stick and put the hole in our pinwheels through the stick. We finished off with a few more beads, and Voila!

If you ever stop by the orchard, be sure to try an apple or strawberry, but also make sure to spend a little time doing some weeding or picking dandelions before they go to seed. The Sunnyside Orchard is a product of the community and it takes more than one person or plant to make it beautiful!