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nafex - Re: [nafex] Grafting with Kids

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  • From: david.maxwell@dal.ca
  • To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] Grafting with Kids
  • Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:48:59 -0400


> 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.

One "trick" I picked up last year which makes the whole exercise safer:
prepare a whole
bunch of squares of thin plywood or hardboard about 3 inches square, with a
hole in the
middle. When making vertical cuts, (such as the tongue in a whip-and-tongue
graft), slip the
plywood guard over the scion or rootstock first. That way if the wood
unexpectedly splits, the
plywood guard protects the fingers underneath. Obviously, once one has made
the cuts, one
takes the plywood guard off before sticking the graft together. (If I had
had this a number of
years ago, I wouldn't have a numb area on the tip of my left index finger
from where I sliced
the digital nerve.)
Other than this, I would certainly go for hands-on experience with grade 6's.
But I can't
guarantee that nobody will cut themselves, any more than I could in a class
of 30 year olds.
One other comment I would make concerns the knives: somebody suggested a
kitchen knife
because "it is less sharp, and hence less likely to cut oneself". This is
incorrect - a sharp
knife will cut the grafting wood with less force, and hence one is less
likely to slip and cut
oneself. One's knife should be sharp enough to shave with. (Use the hair on
your forearm to
test it.)





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