Would you pick fruit from a Free Community Orchard?

[yesiamyesiamokaycallmeback]

There is some wasted land near my house and I asked the local MP how I would go about getting permission to plant an orchard for the community.

I will need to save up for about a year to be able to buy enough trees and bushes.

If someone planted an orchard near you would you use it? I am thinking of growing apple, pear, plum and cherry trees, raspberry and possibly currents. Maybe tomatoes as the seeds are so cheap to source and they usually do well.
Is there anything anyone would love to see in a community orchard? Possibly nut trees like Hazel or walnut but I haven't looked into this yet. would be nice.

do you think i should make signs for the trees telling people when best to harvest?

Tell me honestly would you like one in your community? would you use it?

My first thought would be it would ease the pressure on food banks over time but then I thought that maybe people wouldn't use it and it would just be a waste of time (except for me- i would use it!)

theres one near me. They have signs with the names and charities that donated towards it.

It's nice, got very busy during lockdown.

Honestly speaking I think your intention here is the key. My DM has a huge garden with lots of fruit trees and she couldn't get the fruit shifted Apparently many people are 'funny' about home grown stuff, the food bank included. A community orchard to me sounds like a very middle class, lentil weaving project, where everyone makes jams and chutneys with the fruit. I don't think it would in any way alleviate pressure on local food banks. Also be careful what varieties of fruit you choose, some apples for example really aren't nice at all.

We have one near us and it's lovely. People definitely pick!

Sounds like a lovely idea but it would get ruined by teenagers or people would take the plants if it was near us- unfortunately the few ruin it for the many.

I’d love it - but there would be people who would take advantage and spoil it for everyone else.

@MereDintofPandiculation

what would I do? what would I ask?
I'm not a people person at all so I dont have a clue what I'd say

Your comment about fruit trees easing pressure on food banks is ignorant OP.

Be careful, your privilege is showing. 🙄

A few apples from an orchard does not salvation from poverty create.

@yesiamyesiamokaycallmeback
Regarding landowners, like @VanGoghsDog says, unregistered is not the same as unowned.
Before you invest time and effort, I really recommend that you get to the bottom of who may or may not own it.
My suggestion would be to get the local/parish council on board if you have one and put up some notices on the ground asking for information. If you get nowhere, I would then suggest you familiarise yourself with adverse possession.
You might need to think about things like liability.

If you want this to be a proper community garden you will need to do more than plant some trees.
Or, if you want to do a bit of guerilla gardening - go for it, but be prepared for an owner to emerge and ask what you're up to!

Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea but don't kid yourself.

I would definitely use a community orchard and would happily buy a tree or contribute to the cost.

The Phantom Planter operates like this in Northern Ireland, planting urban orchards or sometimes just one tree. He seems to advocate doing it, protecting the tree, maintaining it and asking forgiveness if council complain rather than asking permission.... He has a Facebook page.

I think this is a lovely idea OP and if someone was setting one up near me I'd gladly make a donation to help it get started.

A hazel tree, or hazel hedging, will certainly attract birds (we have one in our garden, it keeps the birds and a squirrel very busy). If there's space, you could scatter wildflower seeds between the trees to attract pollinators.

A word of caution about raspberries: they can be very thuggish and take a fair amount of work to stop them taking over. I was going to plant some, but I was put off when I found out that they require more effort than I'm prepared to put in! Mulberry trees are gorgeous, and I'm also a fan of greengages, after being given some from my neighbour's allotment.

A village near me has a community garden, where they also grow fruit and veg, and it provides a therapeutic environment for people with MH and other problems. They got loads of sponsorship and support and it's a fantastic project. I'll pm you the link to their website, so you can have a look.

@MrsRogerLima
I started picking fruit because I was too poor to afford fresh fruit.

finding that orchard literally was my salvation as I was feeding my kids fresh fruit for 4 months of the year for free. and feeding them jam for free and baking with frozen fruit for free. literally saved about a 3rd of my shop.
that's why I thought it'd be a good idea as it kept me from the food bank.

@user1471464218 I will check his out thank you

I love things like this

Sounds lovely!
Hazel is easy to grow and you just pick the nuts off the ground. We have just one in the garden (15 yo tree) and get a couple of kilos of very year now. You can pollard the stems and make a couple of walking sticks each year as well 😀.

If you do fundraising etc I actually think it works better as it gives people more "ownership" of it meaning:

1. They are more likely to feel allowed to pick fruit and to spread the word so other people know about it
2. They are more likely to behave responsibly and to keep an eye/make sure others do as well

@LakieLady thank you
aghhh gosh I'm so excited

ahh I'll think again about raspberries then
do you think they would be okay contained in a raised bed?

I wouldn't plant raspberries. They spread like mad and without pruning won't fruit well.

@yetanothernamitynamechange that's actually a really good point
I'll set up a gfm and contact local nurseries now

If you have space, consider fruits which are more unusual today - mulberry, quince, medlar.

Absolutely this. They can be really hard to find!

I would use it, but would need it to be very clear I was allowed!

I don’t think it would be as easy as just planting a few trees and bushes.

First you have to establish ownership of the land.
Then you have to think about stuff like public liability insurance and maintaining the site. You might be able to get a local tree surgeon who would be willing to help and other local people who would give time to maintain the bushes and land.
If you can sort the land issue you might want to think about setting up some sort of co operative
Or would it be possible if the land really is unowned for the local council to adopt it and turn it into allotments? I don’t know about your area but in mine there is along waiting list for a allotment and demand way out strips supply.

If you're looking to do fruits that make good jam then blackcurrants are easy. If they like the ground then they thrive. They are also the easiest plants in the world to take cuttings and grow as you literally cut and stick in the ground (I've gone from 1 bush to 12 in 4 years)

Your best bet would be to have a look at any wild growing plants locally or what people have in their gardens and go with ones that like similar conditions.

DH tried to grow all sorts in our garden before I moved in and only the plum and apple trees worked well. I had a walk in the park that was previously the gardens of the "big house" nearby. Spotted blackcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries so planted some of them and they work brilliantly well.

Takes a bit of the guesswork out of what will work or not.

The community garden near us has an orchard. They have to manage access to the space due to vandalism but have a team of volunteers and regularly post on the community Facebook page with offers of fruit and veg.

I don’t think you should look at funding this yourself, there would be many organisations interested in this. Firstly have a look at the Woodland Trust - www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/schools-and-communities/ - they are giving away tree packs for schools and communities. Also look at local grants from your local authority (they all have different names but are usually under the community pages). If you are near a landfill, you might able to apply for a landfill grant. You also want to search for local grants, you’ll find a few on this link - www.getgrants.org.uk/funding-finder/ - you’ll want to search within the health and well-being, community and environment sections. If you have a establish a strong link with the primary school you might even be able to tap into education. Also consider approaching your local Tesco or Waitrose and asking about the process to go on their voting tubes. Utility companies may also have a grant scheme open to you. You might also want to search for your local council of volunteer organisation, usually they have knowledge of small local grants you can apply to.

There's funding available for community groups doing tree planting projects - The Tree Council is the first organisation that springs to mind but I've seen others too. If it's next to a school they might be interested in joining in with the planting, and getting their involvement would help to advertise it to the families who might find it useful.

I agree it would need to be very clear I was allowed to use it! But I would love this near me.