Tree Care Workshops
Learn how you can improve the health and productivity of your fruit trees. PFTP's hands-on workshops are fun opportunities to learn basic methods of organic fruit tree care.
Workshops are open to anyone, but pre-registration and pre-payment is required.
Please contribute the standard workshop fee of $25. Sliding scale options are provided for those who feel unable to contribute at that level.
In addition, a limited amount of full scholarships and work-trade scholarships are available.
Tree care workshops (except for the Grafting workshop) are free of charge for tree owners who have fruit trees registered with us, though contributions are gladly accepted!
Winter Pruning
Saturday January 21st, 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Portland, OR (Washington County, near Mitchell Park)
Winter Pruning
Sunday February 5th, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Portland, OR (NE Portland, Parkrose neighborhood)
Winter Pruning
Sunday February 19th, 1pm - 4pm
Portland, OR (SE Portland, Richmond neighborhood)
Pollinators
Saturday February 25th, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Portland, OR (NE Portland, Vernon neighborhood)
Click here to register now for this workshop
Pollinators serve an important role in our local food web. More specifically, we need them in order for our fruit trees to produce bountiful fruit sets! In this hands-on workshop, you will gain a basic understanding of bee-keeping, learn about the life of bees, how to construct mason bee habitats, and which plants are favorable for attracting pollinators. For the hands-on portion of this workshop, we'll be assembling mason bee habitats that will be installed at our 2012 Tree Care Team sites. Dormant mason bees for these habitats were donated by Backyard Bird Shop & Portland Bizzy Bees.
Each participant will get to take home some pollinator-friendly plant seeds and some empty paper tubes to start their mason bee populatiion. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided at the workshop.
About the instructors:
Madelyn Morris - is a Portland-based educator and co-owns Mickelberry Gardens, LLC with her husband. The start-up company is developing a product line based on locally harvested herbs, raw honey, beeswax, and other hive products from the couple’s steadily growing honeybee apiary in southeast Portland - where humane, ethical, and organic beekeeping methods are always utilized. Madelyn is happy to share her enthusiasm for honeybees and other pollinating insects, and promotes deepening our relationship with these fascinating and helpful creatures. www.mickelberrygardens.com
Jen Davis - lives in Portland with her two kids and husband. She is an artist, writer, filmmaker and urban farmer. She grows 16 kinds of fruit, and nearly one half of her family's vegetable supply. She also keeps ducks, and has raised Mason bees for ten years. She teaches Mason bee workshops from home and at schools throughout the region.
The location address and other details will be provided after you register.
Click here to register now for the February 25th Pollinators' workshop!
Click here for our workshop contribution & cancellation policy
Winter Pruning
Sunday March 11th, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Portland, OR (SE Portland, Brooklyn neighborhood)
Click here to register now for this workshop
In this hands-on workshop you will learn the basics of winter pruning in order to increase the health and abundance of local fruit trees! This fun workshop will be an opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the different types of pruning cuts and when these cuts should be used.
About the instructor:
Noah Marquis is the owner/ operator of Trees to Soil, LLC, a permaculture-driven, biodynamic-based professional tree care service. Noah is an ISA certified arborist and has a long history with trees. Beginning at the age of 12, he helped his Uncle Bill plant 20 acres of Eastern White Pine for a wood lot in Northern Michigan. Since then, Noah has worked as an organic grower of avocados and citrus in Hawaii, apples in Japan, and as a tree preservationist and arborist in central Kentucky. Most recently, Noah worked as arboreal and permaculture consultant in Ecuador, helping with conservation, agroforestry research, and permaculture installations. Along with his wife and three children, he also runs “Berries to Bellies,“ a 3.75 acre blueberry u-pick on the Community by Design farm just south of Sherwood.
The location address and other details will be provided after you register.
Click here to register now for the March 11th Winter Pruning workshop!
Click here for our workshop contribution & cancellation policy
In this fun, hands-on workshop you will learn the basics of grafting, the most common method of fruit tree propagation. Learn why and how grafting is done, what root stock and scion wood are and which ones to use. You'll get to bring home a fruit tree that you grafted yourself and come away ready to propagate more fruit trees on your own!
About the instructor:
Rick Shory has always worked with plants. In addition to gardening, he has grown and pruned fruit trees, including over 30 years experience grafting. He recently returned to the Pacific Northwest after ten years in Colorado, where he worked in environmental field research and had a home orchard and permaculture. His botanical specialization is grasses.
Participants will need to bring their own grafting knife. We highly recommend using an actual grafting knife but an exacto knife or utility knife/box cutter are decent alternatives. Newly grafted trees will also be available for purchase at the workshop.
If participants are interested in purchasing a grafting kit, we have them for sale for $3. They consist of a quart-size ziploc including the following items: Q-tips, yellow grafting seal in a clear plastic film canister, grafting rubber bands, and plastic plant labels. Please let me know if you would like one.
The location address and other details will be provided after you register. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided at the event.
Click here to register now for the March 18th Grafting workshop!
Click here for our workshop contribution & cancellation policy
Young Fruit Trees: Selection, Planting, Espalier, & Care
Saturday March 24th, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Portland, OR (location TBA)
Click here to register now for this workshop
In this hands-on workshop you will learn the basics of fruit tree selection and planting in order to create the conditions for optimal fruit production & tree health! This fun workshop will be an opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the various factors one should consider when selecting a fruit tree for a given site and then how to best plant the selected tree. Participants will also learn some basic steps for young (0-4 yrs) tree care and what it takes to establish a proper espalier training system for your tree. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided at the workshop.
About the instructor:
Rick Shory has always worked with plants. In addition to gardening, he has grown and pruned fruit trees, including over 30 years experience grafting. He recently returned to the Pacific Northwest after ten years in Colorado, where he worked in environmental field research and had a home orchard and permaculture. His botanical specialization is grasses.
The location address and other details will be provided after you register.
Click here to register now for the March 24th Young Fruit Trees workshop!
Click here for our workshop contribution & cancellation policy
Scholarships
We want everyone to be able to attend our workshops, regardless of income level. If you cannot afford the full workshop price, please include answers to the following questions with your registration email. We will make every effort to meet your need. If you have questions, call us at 503-284-6106.
Would you like to donate to our scholarship fund? Click here
Scholarship Application questions:
1) Why do you want to attend this workshop?
2) Why do you feel that you should receive a scholarship / work-trade?
3) Are you interested in work-trade? (We request 1.5 hours of volunteer time at PFTP headquarters.)