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On a crisp, late spring day in Jamaica Plain, a small groupof neighbors gather around a young man as his roughhands tenderly pack straw around the base of a freshlyplanted cherry tree. The spindly young plant is small, butthe neighbors’ appetites are not: “I’m putting in my orderfor a cherry pie right now!” one man declares with a twin-kle in his eye.These residents of Jamaica Plain’s Moss Hill neighbor-

hood have reason to be licking their lips in anticipationof a delicious fruit harvest. They are participants in an in-novative grassroots project, led by resident Margaret Con-nors, to establish a communal orchard in theirneighborhood. Unlike a conventional orchard with a ded-icated plot of land, this one will consist of fruit-bearingtrees planted on the homeowners’ private lots as well as innearby public spaces such as the Manning ElementarySchool. As co-director of the Neighborhood Pesticide Action

Committee (www.npacboston.org), Margaret is nostranger to communal environmental efforts. “We have toconsider our communities as much more than the sum oftheir dwellings,” she says. “Neighborhoods are resource-rich and can be mobilized to initiate solutions to manyurgent environmental challenges, including global warm-ing. Planting a neighborhood orchard is making the bestuse of the collective good earth in a community. A com-munal orchard, a neighborhood bee keeping project,backyard city chickens—such efforts are only the begin-ning.”Debbie Side, the owner of a new cherry tree planted in

her front yard, expresses the spirit of the project. “I can’tuse more than a basketful of cherries,” she says, gesturingto the tree with her hands covered in fresh dirt. “I’ll behappy if my neighbors come by to pick them; otherwise,the fruit would just rot. This way, anybody walking bycan access it.” With the cherry and two raspberry bushesthat will be planted in her side lot, Debbie’s yardlots are

bound to be popular at harvest time.On this day, more than 30 new trees and shrubs will

sink their roots into fertile nooks and crannies around theneighborhood. They include conventional fruiting treessuch as apples, cherries and peaches, as well as berries suchas blueberry, raspberry and juneberry. In addition, fallowland along a public footpath will be planted with berries,hickory trees and other New England forest natives to revive the diversity and beauty that was threatened by development. A host of fruit, nut and berry plants that are uniquely

suited to our variable New England climate can turn al-most any small lot into a cornucopia of fresh, sun-ripenedfoods. This is exactly what Margaret Connors envisionedwhen she started laying out the plan for her neighbor-hood’s orchard. “The idea just sort of came to me,” shesaid of the project, which has few precedents. “I’d heardof Earthworks’ Setback Tree program and imagined ourneighborhood with fruiting trees accessible to all theneighbors. Earthworks reclaims neglected urban spacesfor sustainable use through hands-on projects, education,and advocacy. I figured that with people out picking fruitfor six months of the year, there would be a lots of activityin the neighborhood, and we would be more likely towatch out for each other.”Historically, the area in and around Moss Hill was

home to a number of prominent wool merchants andambassadors who built large estates, each of which in-cluded sizable orchards. Longtime resident DorothyMeyer remembers, “Back in the ’30s and ’40s, the kids ofthe neighborhood used to play on those hills and we’dcome down with apples in our pockets. It was very ruralback then.” Some Moss Hill residents suspect that theirhomes sit on land that was once part of an orchard ownedby Jabez and Lucretia Lewis-Dawson; their homestead,the Lewis-Dawson Farmhouse, dates back to the early1800s and was recently granted landmark status by the

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Fruit for the People:Moss Hill Orchard

by Susan Koechner

56 Summer 2008 edible boston

Boston Landmark Commission. Once Margaret had gauged the neighbors’ interest in

the orchard project, (“They wanted to be a part of it, noquestions asked.”) she got to work. She secured the helpof two local organizations: the previously mentionedEarthworks and JP Trees, which works to renew the urbancanopy in Jamaica Plain through stewardship and advo-cacy for community trees. First, the participants needed to perform site evalua-

tions with the help of Earthworks. Most important, theyhad to consider how many hours of sunlight a plantwould receive. While berry bushes can produce in shadyspots, fruiting trees require a minimum of six hours ofsunlight per day to flourish. Next, they conducted simplesoil tests through University of Massachusetts’ Soil andPlant Tissue Testing Laboratory to determine the soilquality including acidity, texture, drainage, fertility andpresence of toxic metals. This information helped Earth-works recommend plants which would thrive in the avail-able spaces. Then came the fun part: plant selection. Steve Larson

was one of many who decided on an apple tree. “I likeapples,” he said. “Also, because I’m new in the neighbor-hood, I thought that this would be a good way to meetpeople.” Because multiple species can be grafted onto asingle rootstock, those who choose apples will enjoy har-vesting different kinds of apples from a single tree. Otherrecommended fruit and nut-bearing plants included cher-ries, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, persimmon, paw-paw, mulberries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, goose-berries, juneberries, hazelnuts, walnuts, hickories andchestnuts.At long last, the day of planting, May 17th, arrived. On

hand to help plant and provide education were BenCrouch, Urban Forestry Program Director of Earthworks,and Melissa Moore, an Earthworks-trained volunteer ofJP Trees. After a brief introduction, a group of about 15neighbors, young and old, picked up their tools andmarched energetically off to the first planting site.Ben held onto the small bare cherry tree, just six feet

tall, as he demonstrated the complete planting process.“Most fruit trees will grow in almost anything excepthighly disturbed soil,” he noted while turning over theturf with a tock, a garden tool that resembles a pick. Hedug a hole for the tree’s bare roots and explained thatwhile the tree would not grow much in the first year, theycould expect growth of two to three feet per year untilmaturity. Amazingly, fruit would become available in

only two or three years from planting. The neighbors learned that a few simple maintenance

techniques would insure that their trees thrive. The trees’stewards will only have to water the trees occasionallyduring the first year or two after planting, except in casesof extreme drought; fertilizer never needs to be added.Another task, pruning, takes a little more skill: dead, dis-eased, and damaged wood should be removed in the firsttwo years. After year two, crossing or crowded branchesshould be removed once a year. Ben estimates that thistakes only a few minutes per tree while they are young(and one to two hours per year thereafter) and notes thatowners can hire Earthworks to help if desired. Newlyplanted trees must be mulched: straw is packed looselyaround the trunk’s base to facilitate water retention,maintain an even temperature and control weeds. With the first tree safely settled in its new home, the

group moved on. Along the way, it quickly became clearwhat an infectiously appealing project this was. We passedneighbor Will Fox, not currently a participant. “What’sup?” he asked his shovel-wielding neighbors. “We’replanting an orchard,” Margaret replied. “You might wantto consider a tree for your lot next year.” His face lit up.“Really? That’s awesome! What grows well in shade?” An-other neighborhood orchardist was born.A communal spirit will be necessary to overcome a few

challenges presented by the project, including liabilityconcerns. The solution to these challenges, which is stillbeing refined by the neighbors, is simple. They will createa map that will represent the following information: thelocation of the fruiting trees and bushes, their harvestingperiod and the approved picking methods and the toolsavailable for borrowing. Homeowners who prefer thatothers not pick on their land can opt to pick the fruitthemselves and offer it in containers or an open basketfor others. As different trees ripen at different times, thefruit harvest will last from late spring through the firstfrost. Tom Burford, noted apple historian and orchard con-

sultant, offered some ideas for managing and sharingfruit. “The homeowners could form an informal cooper-ative, with qualified pickers; kids could be supervised bythem during picking.” He also suggested apple tastings,where a few varieties of fruit could be presented by theirgrowers, along with information and serving suggestions.“Kids just love that,” he added.All of this creative effort will be worth it. Margaret

notes that in addition to providing delicious, free organic

produce, “the orchard will reduce our contribution toglobal warming: growing our own fruiting trees meansthat we are not buying fruits flown in from New Zealandor trucked in from Georgia.” Moreover, the project is ahands-on educational experience for adults and kids alike.“The best part is that our girls will learn how to pickfruit,” neighbor Richard Flanagan says. “They’ll have theexperience of seeing where their food comes from. Rightnow, I don’t think they or I even know what a peach treelooks like!”The new trees will offer many other benefits: their

shade cover will help moderate the temperature and windin the city, and their roots will keep soil intact and helpretain water. Participants will be kept active and fit caringfor their trees, and the organic fruits will nourish themthrough three seasons and beyond. Last but not least, thehardy new inhabitants will lend their beauty to the peace-ful streets. The most enduring benefit of the neighborhood or-

chard just might be the deepened sense of trust and caringamong the neighbors. “If you want to get along with yourneighbors,” Ben recommends, “bake them a peach cob-bler with fruit from your tree. You’ll make friends rightaway.” �

GROW YOUR OWN!

As Margaret mentions, “You don’t need to live on 10 acresin the countryside to grow an orchard. In fact you cangrow one in the city and be a direct contributor to theSlow Food movement (what is slower than strollingaround your neighborhood for a healthy snack?), whilehelping to reduce global warming.”

For simple how-to steps on growing organic neighbor-hood orchards visit www.npacboston.org.

For information on soil testing, site evaluation, plant se-lection and more, see Earthworks’s online guide:http://www.earthworksboston.org/page/uogrow.

Susan Koechner is a freelance writer and avid forager whose workcan be seen at www.susankoechner.typepad.com. She is also a makerof almost-edible organic soap that can be found at the Central Squareand Harvard Square farmers markets and online at www.bigmoun-tain.etsy.com.

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