FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: PACIFIC ELEMENTARY
SACRAMENTO, CA - Pacific Elementary marked the first time in ten years that the Sacramento school district gave the green light to plant a new school orchard. Similar to our pilot program in Richmond, we are working closely with the district to prove that school orchards are doable, and delicious!
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: LUTHER BURBANK HIGH SCHOOL
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT
YOLO COUNTY - We love Yolo County! The Sacramento Area recently decided to become the farm-to-fork capital of America, so Common Vision teamed up with Yolo County Farm to Fork to plant orchards at Zamora, Plainfield, Knights Landing and Dingle elementary schools. In 2008, the present-day principle at Knights Landing was a 3rd grade teacher at Plainfield when we first planted peach, nectarine, apple and apricot trees there.
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL
RICHMOND, CA - Kennedy High is part of our 5-year program with Nutiva to orchardize every public school campus in Richmond, CA. Our Fall planting here marked an historic moment in our relationship with the school district. Like many schools in West Contra Costa County, Richmond has had a long-time ban on fruit bearing trees on campus. Thanks to intense interest from teachers and the principal, Common Vision was granted an exception and allowed to break ground on a new campus orchard for the first time in over a generation. Part of our program is to help California public schools create sustainable orchard care systems to address very real maintenance concerns over fruit falling when campus is closed for the summer.
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: A.P. GIANNINI
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Infinite gratitude to our friends at Tree Ring Productions who came out to help us plant on a sandy hillside at A.P. Giannini Middle School in San Francisco’s Sunset District. Tree Ring creates videos for social enterprises, individual changemakers, grassroots organizations, and non-profits in the Bay Area. We are blessed to have their help!
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: BURCKHALTER ELEMENTARY
OAKLAND, CA -This Fall marked our third visit to Burckhalter Elementary, a super successful school orchard in Oakland. Think big trees and little kids! This amazing school orchard is a great example of our new model of deeper ongoing engagement with students and teachers.
First planted in 2010, Burckhalter is bearing big fruit!. According to Michael Flynn, “Burckhalter has fruit trees that are totally bompin’.” (Bomp: (v) To bear big, juicy fruit. Common Vision unabridged dictionary of school orchard slang). They had a good crop this year, and are expecting an even bigger harvest next. Bomp on Burckhalter!
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: LEARNING WITHOUT LIMITS
OAKLAND, CA - Our visit to Learning Without Limits was another extended jackhammer morning since we didn’t have an opportunity to pre-drip the site and soften up the soil the day before. At sunrise the morning of the planting, it took an advance team of five Common Vision groundbreakers using jackhammers, picks, and shovels to get the ground ready to receive a new 12-tree school orchard.
FALL 2014 TOUR REPORT: FAITH RINGGOLD SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCE
HAYWARD, CA - For the first stop on our Fall 2014 School Orchard Tour, we were excited to return for our second visit to Faith Ringgold School of Arts & Science in Hayward. We planted a small six-tree orchard here in 2006 and returned this Fall to find the Elephant Heart Plum, Santa Rosa Plum, and Comice Pear trees thriving and in need of a good pruning. With their orchard now the heart of their garden program, the Common Vision crew added six new trees, bringing the school up to a dozen fruiting trees on campus.
