Community Fruit Tree Update

Over the last month, I have helped to plant 100 Community Fruit Trees in Orlando. Much of the food that I personally plant I can expect to share in the bounty in just a few months or less. Fruit trees on the other hand are a long-term investment. Most of them won’t produce fruit this year or next, and some won’t produce fruit for as much as five years.

My plan is to be in Orlando for about two years, which means I might never personally see a fruit on any of these 100 trees. I’d love to share and eat some of this fruit, but that love doesn’t even compare to how much I’d love to see hundreds or even thousands of people enjoying fresh fruit from these trees over many years to come. I want to help people realize that food can grow free right where we walk every day. I want to create opportunities for people to see that the food on the shelf at the grocery store is barely scratching the surface of what real flavor and nutrition can be when we do some work in our own yards and neighborhoods. I want people to experience how rewarding and purposeful it can be to live in a manner that is more connected to our surroundings and the earth.
In the busy and often demanding society that we live in, it is easy to focus on ourselves and our own needs. But we must remember to look after our communities. After all, if we don’t look after our communities, who will there be to look after ourselves?
True independence is largely an illusion. Money may create the appearance of independence, but people are always behind that money, behind every transaction, and we are truly dependent on each other, as a human race, and as one race interdependent with millions of species on Earth.
We must work together to live in the world we want to live in. What can you do to make your community a happier, healthier and more sustainable place?
A special thanks to the Live Like Ally Foundation for providing us with funds to plant these trees.
Photo Credit: Live Wonderful Photography
www.communityfruittrees.org