Nicole, Caitlin, and I planted two trees on November 10. One of our trees was in front of the fire hall. Above, you can see Caitlin clearing dirt away from the hole that was made for the tree that would go into that spot. That tree was a crab apple tree. Crab apple trees are good trees to plant in public places because they have beautiful white blossoms in the spring. The fruit that they produce is small and somewhat tart and good for applesauce or apple crumb cake or eating or other cooking and baking purposes. I like to walk through parks and pick and eat the crab apples in the autumn. I’m always happy to help myself to a treat when I’m out for a walk!
Caitlin was a very energetic tree planter. She is a fifth grader who says that she likes to play softball and that her favorite position is short stop. She also likes to read and she says that she loves her teacher. She said, “I’ve planted plants with my grandmother. This is my second time planting a tree. The other time, I only had one small tree that I planted. This is more fun because it’s a nice tall tree. The other time, all I did was put some seeds in.”
Nicole is Caitlin’s aunt. She works as a fund raiser at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. When she’s not working, she likes to plant trees. She helped plant trees on April 27 in downtown Buffalo , with the Re-Tree WNY effort.
Re-Tree WNY was started in November 2006 by a group of 40 individuals who wanted to replace the approximately 30,000 trees that were lost in Western New York during the “October Surprise” storm of 2006. That organization has encouraged communities with matching grants to hold tree plantings. A number of suburban communities, including Grand Island, held its tree planting on November 10. Nicole said that her family has lived on Grand Island for generations and that she wanted to help give back to the town that has been a home to her family for all of these years.
Once we were finished planting the crab apple tree, we went to Town Commons Park, in front of town hall and planted a white oak tree. By this time, we were experienced tree planters and it took us less time to plant that nice tall tree. Its pretty side, of course, faces the street. Above, you can see the three of us posing with our white oak.
For more information about white oak trees, take a look at http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=35
