Philadelphia Orchard Project

Philadelphia Orchard Project Mission. The Philadelphia Orchard Project plants and supports community orchards in the city of Philadelphia.

POP partners with a wide variety of community groups, providing them with an orchard design, plant sourcing, planting supervision, and training in orchard care. Our community partners own, maintain, harvest, and distribute the orchard produce within their neighborhoods, thus expanding community control over their food resources. POP currently supports 67 community orchards and has planted 1,578 fruit trees over the last 15 years!

Late May Orchard Updates! 1. It’s fruit thinning season! May and June are the time to pluck off some of your young fruit...
05/21/2026

Late May Orchard Updates!

1. It’s fruit thinning season! May and June are the time to pluck off some of your young fruitlets to ensure a quality harvest and selectively remove pest and disease impacts. This is a before photo of densely packed apricots.
2. Apricots after thinning to 3-5” apart. Plums are also 3-5” and peaches typically 6-8”.
3. Apples, European and Asian pears are typically thinned to 5” apart.
4. Leave the biggest, healthiest fruitlets and remove ones impacted by pest and disease, like the plum curculio damage shown here.
5. Fire blight is already showing up on pears and apples! Prune out this aggressive bacterial disease to at least 12” below any signs. And don’t forgot to disinfect your tools!
6. Harvest season is also kicking off with these ripening Goumi berries!
7. You might also start to see some ripe Juneberries as soon as next week!
8. Guess who decided to finally sprout after the heat this week? Maypop vines!

Thanks for having us out for an early Spring workday Lea Elementary!
05/14/2026

Thanks for having us out for an early Spring workday Lea Elementary!

Thanks for the shout out ! 🍎🫶🏾
05/13/2026

Thanks for the shout out ! 🍎🫶🏾

Dear friends, so much has changed in the few short months since I joined POP as the new Executive Director. As the ice a...
05/04/2026

Dear friends, so much has changed in the few short months since I joined POP as the new Executive Director. As the ice and snow melted to reveal orchard landscapes and the first hints of spring, our team and volunteers jumped into a busy schedule of fruit tree prunings, orchard cleanups and our first workshops of the year. With spring finally here, I’m excited to get to know POP orchards and the dedicated people who care for them.

We hope you’ll support our 🍓 Spring Campaign 🍓 to help us achieve our goals for this year, which include delivering more public workshops, completing two new orchard plantings, and expanding our reach across Philadelphia. For POP’s programs to be successful and sustainable in the long run, we support community leadership and, in turn, rely on community support.

Please also join us for our 🌳 Annual Open House and Plant Sale 🌳 on Saturday, May 16th! We’ll have a variety of fruit trees, shrubs and pollinator-friendly perennials at affordable prices, we’ll be giving tours of the POP Learning Orchard, and I hope to meet and chat with you as we begin planning POP’s next phase of growth. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Also, if you made a donation of $50 or more in 2025 or since, we have a gift plant waiting for you at the upcoming plant sale to show our appreciation for this amazing community. You make Philadelphia our country’s leading orchard city.

Thanks for all you do to support POP, and I hope to see you on May 16th. 

Happy planting!

Vikram

🔗 Links in bio

May Volunteer Work Days — Visit us at the POP Learning Orchard and volunteer to support some of our partners around the ...
04/29/2026

May Volunteer Work Days — Visit us at the POP Learning Orchard and volunteer to support some of our partners around the city.

🔗 Visit the EVENTS link in our bio to sign up. Don't forget to subscribe to our Volunteer mailing list to get email notifications.

Late April orchard updates! 1. Some apricots survived the spring frost season and are already 1”+ in size! Sadly, this ...
04/28/2026

Late April orchard updates!

1. Some apricots survived the spring frost season and are already 1”+ in size! Sadly, this fruitlet is also showing the small crescent shaped scar of plum curculio, our most challenging orchard insect pest.

2. Peach leaf curl in full effect! This common fungal disease impacts most peach trees in the city, although there are some resistant cultivars. Best control is a dormant season copper spray.

3. We have noted web worm in a few orchards this spring. Although not usually a major orchard pest, they can defoliate parts of trees. Physically removing with a stick is a pretty easy control method if they are within reach.

4. Our unusually cold winter caused some significant winter damage on some figs depending on their location. Many are now starting to sprout and regrow- cut off the dead wood above where they sprout!

5. Microclimate makes a huge difference for figs. Those in protected locations are showing some early Breba fruitlets forming despite the harsh winter.

Join us for the first Open Orchard hours of the year! Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and...
04/24/2026

Join us for the first Open Orchard hours of the year! Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and historic Woodlands Cemetery in West Philly.

This **SUNDAY 4/26** from 11am to 2pm, in conjunction with the at . A guided tour of the orchard, nursery, and high tunnels will be offered at 1pm. (Note: the event was moved to Sun 4/26 due to rain on the originally scheduled Sat 4/25 date).

This is a free event but donations to support POP’s ongoing programs are appreciated.

The orchard flower show continues! Currently blooming at a community orchard near you: 1. Pink flowers of peach2. White...
04/09/2026

The orchard flower show continues! Currently blooming at a community orchard near you:

1. Pink flowers of peach
2. White flowers of Asian pear
3. Yellowish flowers of goumis
4. White flowers of juneberry/serviceberry

We are grateful that the mild freezes this week have mostly left these blooms undamaged in Philadelphia, although orchards in the region may see some crop impacts.

Check POP’s orchard program page on our website for a list and map of publicly accessible orchards if you want to see the trees in bloom this weekend!

Open Orchards are back to welcome the Spring! Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and histori...
04/06/2026

Open Orchards are back to welcome the Spring! Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and historic Woodlands Cemetery in West Philly.

April's open orchard hours are on Saturday 4/25 from 11am to 2pm, in conjunction with the at . A guided tour of the orchard, nursery, and high tunnels will be offered at 1pm. Rain date: Sunday 4/26.

This is a free event but donations to support POP’s ongoing programs are appreciated.

ALSO — we still have a few volunteer spots open for Thursday 4/16 at St. Raymonds House in Germantown, as well as Tuesday 4/21 at the POP Learning Orchard at the Woodlands. Sign up on our website!

🔗 Check our EVENTS link in bio for details, and visit www.westcraftfest.com.

The Orchard Flower Show is underway at a community orchard near you! After a long winter, our earliest bloomers are a we...
03/27/2026

The Orchard Flower Show is underway at a community orchard near you!

After a long winter, our earliest bloomers are a welcome sight:

1. Apricot flowers with red buds and white petals.
2. The yellow flowers of Cornelian Cherry often bloom in early March, but delayed this year by extended cold.
3. Prolific white flowers of the Nanking cherries.

Here’s hoping the forecast holds up and the mild freezes this weekend won’t be enough to damage the flowers or impact fruit set.

Stay tuned for Japanese plums and hardy almonds flowering soon!

Address

4000 Woodland Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
19104

Telephone

+12157241247

Website

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