Orchard

Orchard

The Oak Forest Orchard is a work in progress. Currently, we have about 20 trees planted
on the east side of the school in the enclosed fenced area behind the water tower.
Several of these trees were originally planted in 2004. Unfortunately, as the forest to the
east of this area was cleared for commercial development, displaced deer began to eat
our trees and several of them were destroyed. Fortunately for our orchard, but
unfortunately for the deer, we haven't seen this problem in the past few years. The deer
seem to be disappearing from this area. We have replanted some trees and have added a
few new species in the past year.

The most exciting news is that during the 2008-2009 school year we plan to incorporate
sessions in the orchard as part of the 5th grade gardening program. Irma Ojeda, an
Urban Harvest trained fruit tree specialist, has agreed to work in the orchard. It is
anticipated that each 5th grader will spend at least one class period per semester
working with Irma in the orchard. The other exciting news is some of the trees are
actually starting to set fruit and we should have a small harvest this year.

The goal here is to showcase fruit and nut trees that can be easily grown in the Lake
Houston area in home or commercial landscaping. We hope to educate the students and
the public that there are other alternatives in landscaping than the common plants which
in many cases have no benefit to our birds and other critters. And, if the plant is also
edible for humans it is a real plus.

An irrigation system is in place, and much needed modifications were made during
November of 2007 for most of the additional trees. A few additions to the sprinkler
system still need to be made. Also in October of 2007 Laura Webster and her crew from
the Omni Yoga Studio volunteered their time to clear all the grass around each tree and
put down a layer of landscaping cloth and mulch.

In the spring of 2007, the forest to the east of the orchard was destroyed to make way for
the new shopping center. Several years earlier, Friendswood Development Company
had donated a 50 foot buffer zone to the school next to the new shopping area. While
some trees remained in that buffer area, it became apparent more trees could improve it.
The contractor for the shopping area, Sundance, donated approximately $5600 to the
Growers to help restore trees along the eastern property line. In November Deana Berry
and Steve Vaughn from the Kingwood Country Club brought a crew of 30 grounds
keepers to the school and planted, mulched, and staked approximately 125 native trees
and shrubs along the east side of the school property. Individual drip sprinkler lines
were run to each of the trees to help assure their survival. During late fall and winter,
nearly 800 bags of leaves and pine needles were spread by volunteers, parents, and
students to choke out grass and weeds and make the area look more natural. In March,
the Western Cedar fence was installed by the Growers with a big assist from Don
Withrow (parent) and his crew of HISD grounds keepers. Thanks also to parent, Klairann
Nagy, who arranged a discounted price on the materials from Lowes. And finally also a
big thanks to the ExxonMobil volunteers who showed up that day to assist with the
fence construction and other chores around the school. Their donation of time enabled
the school to get a grant from ExxonMobil to pay for the materials for the fence.

One final thank you to Michelle Bennett who was our original orchard keeper, dreamer,
and laborer. Without her push to develop this area, it might still be a field of weeds.

There are more things that can be done with this area to make it a truly great teaching,
science, and nature area for Oak Forest and the community. During the fall we will again
need hundreds of bags of leaves and pine needles to recover the areas. Please do not
send yours to the landfill. Bring them to Oak Forest. If you would like to get involved in
any way in this exciting area, please call Vivian at 281-641-2886.