North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Christopher Kennel <ckennel@gmail.com>]

I've demonstrated grafting to kids as young as 3, but I always do the
cutting myself, then let them try to join the pieces together and wrap them
with parafilm.  Even adults can cut themselves, so I don't have a
particular age at which I'd let kids use knives.  It probably depends on
their individual level of development and your (or their parents') comfort
with the risks.

Chris Kennel
Denver, CO


On Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 11:29 AM, Sherlock Terry 
<sherlocksmith@gmail.com>wrote:

> All of the recent messages about grafting knives made me wonder about how
> to do grafting workshops with kids. I still remember someone coming to my
> 6th grade class and talking about grafting but we didn't try any. My main
> questions are about tools and what ages to try it with.
>
> I've been helping take care of the fruit trees and berries at my
> daughter's elementary school and both the fifth and sixth grades have fruit
> growing as part of their science curriculum. They would be interested in
> grafting in class.
>
> What are the youngest kids that people have tried grafting with?
>
> Would using one of the squeeze grip grafting tools be safer and work
> better than knives?
>
> Is top working easy to reach branches a possibility or do people think
> that is too difficult compared to bench grafting?
>
> I was also thinking that it would be a possibility to let each child bench
> graft their own tree, but I wonder about the post-grafting tree care and if
> coming home with an apple tree is more of a burden than a gift. Are there
> any small plants that can be grafted? Does anyone have experience grafting
> tomatoes? I know the rootstock seed is very expensive.
>
> Now that I'm writing this, I'm wondering if softwood or hardwood cutting
> plant propigation would be a better class activity.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Sherlock
> Vermont
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