About 20 volunteers got down and dirty at the Flint chestnut orchard on Saturday, making quick work planting about 400 seedlings between 9 am and 2 pm! Fantastic day and many thanks to everyone who came out to help!
I have included a few photos of the event below. Note that some of the small seedlings we planted at this time two years ago (upper half of orchard) are already 6 – 8 ft tall! We will begin screening some of these for blight resistance next summer.
Volunteers included (I hope I didn’t miss anyone): Sarah Reynolds (Ms. Santa), Ken Cissna, Scott Frazier, Joe Nicholson, Ken Marlin, Mike Pilvinsky, Paul Bryant, Doug Hood, Earl Ferguson, David Richterkessing, Steve Wallin, Zach Felix, Jonathan Price, Mike Lloyd, Marshall Lynch (Berry student who shepherded the seedlings and planting supplies to the site), Kathy Patrick, Gerhardt Slawitschka, Kelsey Jordan, Pic Petelle, and me.
We will have two more planting events of similar size in the Feb/March period. In the meantime, our next need for volunteer help will be the collection of scion wood for grafting from wild American chestnuts. Please stay tuned for announcements about these important initiatives in the very near future.
Thanks again volunteers!
Martin Cipollini, GA-TACF Science Coordinator
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- GA Chapter President, Kathy Patrick planting American chestnut seedlings
