March 12th was a full day of high expectations and excellence for Natural Resource students at the high school.
Michael Dolan, the owner of Burnt Ridge Nursery came to the high school to teach students how to graft fruit trees. Grafting is a process of aligning rootstock with a selected piece of scion wood to create a fruit tree with preferred size and fruit. While being taught Mr. Dolan shared the history of apples and the science of how it works.
Later in the day Theresa Knusten, the manager of Raintree Nursery attended to help the students finish grafting while offering additional instruction with proven techniques. Later, she taught a propagation unit showing how to take a hardwood cutting and with the right process, encourage the cutting to create roots.
Students learned how to apply the science (anatomy) of fruit trees, with knowledge of size and selection, to the tangible and difficult art of properly grafted fruit trees.
A huge thank you to Michael and Theresa.