To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Claypool Persimmon Orchard - A call for help...
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:39:51 -0500
BTW, if anyone belongs to other fruit groups, lives in or near St. Elmo,
or can otherwise get the word out, please cut and paste the following
notice. THANKS for any help.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 17, 2006:
CONTACT: webmaster@persimmonpudding.com
Critical historical persimmon orchard is in trouble and YOUR time is needed!
The Claypool Persimmon Orchard is located on 3 acres in southeastern
Illinois, just outside of the small town of St. Elmo. It is VERY
important historically but in serious trouble. Its owner makes no money
from it. He is in his 90s and cannot do needed maintenance. He has
always used it for the public good. Countless numbers of home growers,
fruit researchers, and more have greatly benefited by the owner's
benevolence with regard to allowing access and providing loads of
information.
The situation is dire. The orchard has recently become severely damaged
by twig girdlers. In case this beetle is new to you, here's the
thumbnail sketch. Younger twigs are girdled (usually before a fork) by
adult beetles in late summer to early fall. They then lay eggs in the
outer part. This outer part of the twig will drop to the ground
eventually. What happens in the outer portion of the twig is that the
eggs hatch, larvae feed and grow and then by late spring to early
summer, pupate. They emerge as adults in the late summer to early fall
and the cycle continues. The critical point in disrupting this is to
gather up all of the twigs, which have fallen (and any that have been
girdled but not yet fallen) and burn them. This will burn any
larvae/pupae that will be using the twigs to grow into adults.
Several knowledgeable folks will be on hand to discuss persimmons (and
other topics), answer questions, talk science, home orchards, etc. You
can learn not only about persimmons, but a little natural history, as
well as work on something worthwhile. Please read the account below and
PLEASE let me know if you'd like to help. Dates are not yet available,
as we're at the start of planning. However, this will need to happen
SOON...probably in April, possibly May.
We're searching for local scout troops, FFA, and other leads on anyone
we can get. The plan is to have all of us volunteers gather on-site,
and do some damage to the twig girdler population. We plan to set up
some fire barrels, and round up the fallen twigs. Additionally, if we
have the people and equipment, we hope to do some cleanup mowing and such.
We can put a real dent in this, but we need warm bodies (and maybe some
folks who can haul in barrels and a mower or three). The Claypool
Persimmon Orchard is an important historical fruit collection that
suffers from a little neglect. Jim Claypool has always used this
orchard for the public good and we believe this should be reciprocated.
We are at a point in history when these historic orchards are under
threat from a variety of pressures and many have been lost. Sorry for
the soapbox, but the description of the damage in the orchard is
alarming...but not irreversible. If we can rustle up enough folks, this
could be done in a matter of a few hours.
Additionally, Your volunteer efforts for a day can have far-reaching
benefits.
PLEASE give this some consideration. I'll update when we can give some
specifics. Again, we're shooting for late April, possible May. And, if
any of you hold any sway over groups of people, and think you can
mobilize, PLEASE contact me ASAP.
Thanks for reading. Please help spread the word.
barry
webmaster@persimmonpudding.com