Harvesting the Urban Orchard DIVRS Harvesting the Urban Orchard | Page 4

HARVESTING THE URBAN ORCHARD
DIVRS
Preface
Harvesting the urban orchard is an
inspiring and clever idea that invites
people, regardless of age, gender or race
to work together with the urban orchard
and make a positive contribution to their
local community. I have been designing and
working in community public gardens for
over 20 years and I know and understand
the power of bringing people and plants
together. I truly believe that this project
will be a life changing experience for many
of the people who choose to get involved.
The urban orchard refers to all the edible fruit trees, both in public
and private space that exist within our city and cities around the world.
Harvesting the Urban Orchard guide provides us with a sustainable
model that shows us how to harness this resource, build community,
redistribute fresh food to people in need and not drain the public
finances, It’s a win for all.
While this concept redefines what a community garden is, it still
manages to capture all the good qualities and delights found in our
more traditional understanding of community gardening, that is bringing
people together from varied backgrounds and cultures to grow and care
for plants.
Harvesting the Urban Orchard guide commits to all the stages in the
food production chain, from plant care and maintenance through to
harvesting and redistribution and provides its potential users with
a comprehensive account of all the processes involved. Both the
authors including the volunteers and the Darebin council need to be
congratulated on their insights and in-depth knowledge and their
willingness to pass this on in the form of a user guide book.
The fruit harvesting project has evolved since 2013, it is grounded in
practical experience and it has been tried, tested and tweaked to get to
this point. I feel very confident in recommending it to all local shires and
other suitable organisations. It clearly demonstrates how locally driven
community solutions can reduce food miles, food security and loss of
urban canopy.
Andrew Laidlaw has worked in sustainable design for over
20 years. He is a qualified landscape architect and has
been responsible for many high profile landscape design
projects around Melbourne, including the Ian Potter
Foundation Children’s Garden and Guilfoyle’s Volcano.
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Andrew Laidlaw