Fortune’s Cove October 26 Postponed

The planned clean-up at Fortune’s Cove Orchard originally scheduled for Thursday, October 26, has been postponed until some time in November.  The reason: the folks from the Nature Conservancy have been called into duty with cleanup from Hurricane Maria.  When the clean-up is rescheduled, it will be announced here.

We need to go back (again) to Fortune’s Cove to finish culling the orchard.

If you have the time and the inclination, come on out to Fortune’s Cove and give us a hand.

We are looking for volunteers to help lop and stack the unselected trees at the Fortune;s Cove orchard this Wednesday (we culled the orchard last Wednesday, but need to cut the trees into manageable pieces and stack into burn piles).

Fortune’s Cove is a large and beautiful Virginia Chapter chestnut orchard. Last year we screened the trees in this orchard in order to assess the blight resistance of all the trees planted there. Some have enough blight resistance to move forward in the chapter breeding program (those are the standing trees in the orchard), but the rest of the trees, the susceptible trees, were cut down last week and need to be lopped and stacked in burn piles.

As the susceptible trees are removed, the best, most resistant trees will have room to grow and flower, and over the years will produce thousands of seeds to be planted in the chapter seed orchard. This is very important work and it’s crucial that the susceptible trees are removed soon.

Where:

Fortunes Cove Orchard, Nelson County, near Lovingston, Virginia

GPS: 37.780825, -78.895897

From Charlottesville, take US-29 S to State Rte 718 in Lovingston.  Follow State Rte 718 for 1.6 miles and turn right onto State Rte 651. Go another 1.6 miles and you’ll see the orchard.

Note – when you see the entrance to the TNC Natural Area you are almost there. Continue down the road that looks like someone’s personal driveway to a gate, the orchard is just up the dirt road.

When: Thursday, October 26 at 11:00 AM

What:  Bring water, work gloves, sunscreen & sun hat, snacks, lunch and dress for the weather.  Also hand saws (for cutting limbs, etc.) can be helpful.

Note, If you are a chainsaw operator with safety training and experience AND you have appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE), please bring your saw (you cannot run a chainsaw without training and PPE).

If you have ANY questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out by email!

Thanks! Hope to see many of you there.

Katrina Somers  skatri2@vt.edu