A farmer from Botoșani County has turned his orchard into a teaching area. It encourages teachers to bring students to the orchard to teach them about the world of fruit on site.
A class of children was invited to learn about grapes directly in the orchard PHOTO Dumitru Zmău
One of the most important orchards near Botoșani is located in the village of Cucorăni, Mihai Eminescu commune. The orchard is located near the Loești pond, famous for the fact that it was visited by Mihai Eminescu in his youth and belongs to Dumitru Zmău, the former head of the Botoșani Traffic Police. He became a farmer after retirement and among other things he cultivated many fruit trees right near the pond.
Since the summer of this year, Dumitru Zmău has come up with a series of new initiatives, saying that he wants to get involved in the community. Among other things, in the summer, he gave free fruit to those who passed by the orchard and now, in the fall, he transformed his property into a teaching space. More precisely, they invite classes of students with teachers who want to teach them biology or horticulture lessons, on the spot, practically.
“As long as we have fruit on the trees, I make myself available to the children”
The initiative was born after a simple observation: the children could not differentiate between the types of trees and some even between the fruits. In addition, they did not know how they grow and what is the whole circuit from the seed to the actual consumption. Considering that the autumn harvest was harvested in Cucorăni and the orchard is composed of different species of trees, Dumitru Zmău thought that it would be an ideal place to hold a natural science class in the open air.
Three days ago, the first biology class was held at the orchard in Cucorăni. A middle school class from Botoșani learned about fruit trees, their fruits, but also about how the entire process takes place from planting to harvesting. “I received the visit of some children, students of a school in Botoșani county, to the Cucorani orchard. The didactic purpose was to show the children where the fruits they eat grow.”stated Dumitru Zmău.
The entire orchard has effectively been transformed into a learning space. The students saw the types of fruit trees, the difference between their fruits, even the component parts and sections of the fruit. The students learned about the importance of nature, the sources of food from nature and especially how they are obtained. “According to the worker, a horticulturist by profession, many of the children could not distinguish between apples, pears, quinces and so on. Not to mention the differences between the trees!”, adds Dumitru Zmău. The Botošan farmer says he wants to give children the experience of tasting a 100 percent natural fruit, grown according to traditional methods.
“As long as we still have fruit on the trees, I make myself available to the children”
The Botošan farmer says that students should learn more applied at school, with practical examples from everyday life, and nature lessons should be something common. That is precisely why he wants his orchard to become, while the fruits are on the branch, an unconventional but useful teaching space for students. “As long as we have fruit on the trees, I make myself available to the children! To see the fruits on the trees, not just at the market,” concludes Dumitru Zmău.
In fact, the farmer from Botošan repeatedly complained about the fact that the Romanian state does not do enough to encourage authentic producers, for those who offer truly organic products. He says that farmers suffer especially when it comes to selling the goods, the productions are good, but the fruits spoil in the warehouses. That is precisely why in the summer it was decided to give them for free to the people passing through the area.
