Do you have fruit trees or an interest in them? Would you like a better understanding of how to prune and care for them?

Join the San Juan Island Grange for a field trip to Dancing Seeds Farm on Sunday, Jan. 28, for a hands-on pruning workshop lead by Greg Meyer and Keith Keyser. The workshop will begin with an 11 a.m. brunch potluck meet ‘n’ greet in the farmhouse at 3501 Beaverton Valley Road, where there will be books to flip-through and graphics to examine.

The group will move into the orchard at noon, where Keyser and Meyer will go over times of year to prune, tools, techniques and how to collect scion wood for grafting future trees. The day will wrap up by 2 p.m.

Meyer’s pruning experience began by attending a similar workshop in Seattle, where he was also lucky enough to have a landlady who let him practice on a plum and apple tree at her house. He then spent two years at the Bullock brothers’ homestead on Orcas Island, where he pruned trees of all ages and sizes, while at the same time honing his skills with his landscaping clients.

Keyser pruned apple trees for commercial orchards in Okanogan County for two years in the late ’70s. Since then, he has worked on many clients trees over the years as well as for his own small orchard.

The free pruning workshop at Dancing Seeds Farm is part of the Grange Lecture Series, which strives to foster social and political engagement, discussion and to maintain the historical hall as a home for celebrations and programs.

The San Juan Island Grange has been a community of growers, makers and keepers since 1931.

The Grange is nonpartisan and so is this event. All are welcome, including kids.