A bushy apricot tree neighboring the Rio Grande trail was abuzz with chatter and the snap of pruning shears. A group of mostly Carbondale residents had assembled to learn about caring for fruit trees. Hosted by Colorado State University (CSU) Extension, Colorado Edible Forest, UpRoot Colorado and Pitkin County Open Space and Trails (PCOST), the organizers hoped to empower local residents to maintain both new and historic fruit trees.
Vanessa Harmony is one of the instructors at these events and the owner/operator of Colorado Edible Forest, a nursery that specializes in edible trees and shrubs for our region’s climate. As Harmony explained, “Pruning fruit trees will maximize the size and the quality of the fruit, and the health of the tree.” Excess branches can stifle air flow through the tree which can lead to disease. It also means the tree spreads its resources through more branches, growing smaller fruit. Harmony advises pruning fruit trees in the spring before they bloom.
Vanessa Harmony of Colorado Edible Forest stands in front of an unmaintained apple tree along the Rio Grande trail in Carbondale. Harmony was there to teach community members how to prune fruit trees. Photo by Olivia Emmer
The event on March 25 was one of a series of workshops planned between Silt and Emma. At the Carbondale event, approximately 10 community members gathered, including a Pitkin County Open Space and Trails board member, a local farmer and several homeowners and renters with fruit trees in their yards.
The series of workshops was born from necessity. Last year, members of these organizations met at the Emma Orchard hoping to pick apples from the trees for UpRoot Colorado. Harmony explained that since the trees hadn’t been pruned regularly, the apples weren’t suitable for harvest.
UpRoot Colorado is a nonprofit that harvests and redistributes surplus, nutrient-dense foods. This process, called gleaning, saves produce that might go to waste and diverts it to hunger-relief agencies. Locally, UpRoot partners with entities like Lift-Up, the Garfield County Senior Nutrition Program and Valley Meals and More.
Rita Mary Hennigan, UpRoot Colorado’s co-director, said that while 30-40% of the food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten, at the same time, “one in three Coloradans don’t have enough nutritious food to feed themselves and/or their families.” Hennigan hopes to “create opportunities for more Coloradans to actively engage with the sources of our food and to participate in our food system.”
UpRoot works with both agricultural producers and individuals to source food. Community members can enroll in UpRoot’s Fruit Tree Registry and the nonprofit will organize a team of volunteers to harvest the tree. The crop is then split between the property owner, the volunteers and donations. UpRoot hopes that if more folks know how to maintain local fruit trees, that there will be more good harvests to go around.
Several participants in a fruit tree pruning workshop collaborate to prune an apricot tree growing next to the Rio Grande trail in Carbondale. The workshop was hosted by CSU Extension, Colorado Edible Forest, UpRoot Colorado and Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. Photo by Olivia Emmer
Also facilitating the workshops is Drew Walters, who joined PCOST as its agriculture specialist in April 2022. Approximately 20% of Walters’ time is earmarked to serve as the county’s CSU Extension representative. Across the state, counties have agriculture specialists through this program to aid farmers, ranchers and backyard growers. According to the PCOST website, Walters “is the first consistent Extension presence in Pitkin County in a decade.” Extension specialists can help identify pests and diseases, assist with soil testing and more.
“Before fruit was widely available in grocery stores, settlers needed to have apples for cider or vinegar or baking. So people brought their prized fruit trees with them and planted them — a lot of those historic trees are still living and still producing fruit,” explained Harmony. “But we also have a lot of volunteer fruit trees that have popped up along railroads, like the Rio Grande trail, and along trail sides.” Harmony propagates some of these more than 100-year-old trees for her nursery in Spring Valley, ensuring that these heritage fruits are available in the future.
At Saturday’s event, the group pruned a tall apple tree and a bushy apricot tree growing along the Rio Grande trail, one on each side of the Roaring Fork River near the Carbondale Park and Ride. Keep your eye out come spring to see these trees in bloom and again in fall, when they’ll hopefully be producing large, juicy fruit.
The final event in the series, on Saturday, April 1, is sold out, but the organizers hope to host workshops again next year.