THE GENEROSITY OF AN ORCHARD: THE GIVING GROVE
- Jennifer Jewell
- Aug 21
- 5 min read
As autumn and harvest begins to color the edges of our awareness, this week on Cultivating Place we’re joined by two people whose work is all about perennial and abundant harvest as represented by the concept, and the endless generosity, of an Orchard.
The Giving Grove, based in Kansas City, lives a purpose of providing healthy calories, strengthening community, and improving the urban environment through a nationwide network of sustainable little orchards.
Jennifer is in conversation with the Giving Grove’s Co-Executive Director, Ashley Vernon, and Ryan Watson, the National Orchard Operations and Education Manager, who share more about their work nurturing communal orchardists across the country in 16 sites and 650 little orchards with big impact.
The progression of summer to fall fruits is well underway – with peaches, nectarines, and berries spilling over on the verges, in the fields, and in farmers markets and farm stands everywhere - apples, pears, persimmons and the winter citrus are all visible on the horizon.
Can you think of anything more perennially generous than a fruit tree or vine, or an orchard of them?
The Giving Grove supports neighborhood hubs in 16 sites across the country and supports through many resources these hub's volunteers in planting and caring for fruit trees, nut trees, and berry brambles which improve the urban environment, increase tree canopy and provide a sustainable source of free, organically-grown food for neighborhoods facing high rates of food insecurity.
For more than a decade now, The Giving Grove has been nurturing orchards and orchardists from what began as a grassroots effort to make free, fresh fruits, nuts, and berries available to Kansas City neighborhoods with high rates of food insecurity.
The program was launched with the understanding that an orchard must be community-led and community-driven. Orchards are planned and implemented and supported only at a neighborhood’s request. Once requested The Giving Grove then helps an orchard hub to source the trees, supplies, and training necessary to grow a fruitful orchard.
The two guests this week, Ashley and Ryan, are firmly rooted in healing, equity,
and community.
With the capacity to grow over 4 million servings of free, fresh food annually while re-invigorating urban green spaces from coast to coast, we are so pleased to share the Giving Grove’s story forward.
They are truly an example of cultivating place well and growing our world better in the process.
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All photos Courtesy of The Giving Grove, all rights reserved.
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JOIN US again next week, when Abra Lee dives deeply into the spirit of Back to
School season in conversation with Jazmin Albarran, executive Director of Seed Your Future, a non-profit whose vision is a world where Everyone understands the power of plants and is aware of the promising careers in the art, science, technology, and business of horticulture. That's right here, next week. Listen in!
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Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, it's Jennifer—
This conversation brings up ideas such as being rooted in Listening first…..and by invitation….these concepts which come up early in the conversation really piqued my interest and internal inquiry.
It is a sort of version of right plant right place, if you think about it.
And that listening and hearing/heeding is a teacher, and that that exact kind of learning is a powerful tool.
Here is another topic imbued throughout this conversation: What is power and how is it derived, used, recognized, and honored?
As we know in our day to day lives, there are multiple answers to this question–but trust me, and trust the close to 500 conversations we have shared to date on Cultivating Place – we as Gardeners and cultivators of place listening to and learning from plants in our places are powerful in our ability to tend to and grow the world in small and large ways through this very love of plants in our places.
The Giving Grove's 650 orchards of abundance are such a great illustration and testament to this truth….
Don’t forget the power of every act of big G Gardening….
Here are some additional take aways from this conversation that I want to apply to my Gardening practice, to help guide my Gardening impulse from:
The questions of What do you want to grow –
and what is possible to grow?
Accepting and asking for help and guidance, and,
THE COMMONS – all of our gardens are in the Commons whether we think so or not with shared air, shared soil, shared water, shared wildlife patterns by air and land – so how do we allow them, cultivate them to serve the commons even more deliberately…
CP Communing is part of the commons and in our next CP Communing on Sept 16 in front of the Autumnal Equinox we will talk more about all of this – how we support the commons, how we support each other in Cultivating Place – which is an art in so many ways.
This will indeed be our focus – the art of cultivating place well and all the ways we are inspired and encouraged in art by our places and plants. Registration is now open for this CP Communing: hope to see you all there!
Space is limited to encourage conversation, so please make sure to register – it is free!
And finally I invite you to listen for this: towards the end of this week's conversation you will hear Ryan note that today - right now, you know the least amount you ever will about what you are doing – making the future of your knowledge and contribution to your place, family, community and world look only better and brighter from here.
I like that way of understanding what I know now, and that optimism about our collective capacity to know and do so much more.
This is one for us to take with us every day, every season, every year.
WAYS TO SUPPORT CULTIVATING PLACE
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The CP team includes producer and engineer Matt Fidler, with weekly tech and web support from Angel Huracha, weekly communications support by Sheila Stern and Carley Bruckner, transcripts by Doulos Transcription, and regular guest hosting by Abra Lee and Ben Futa. We’re based on the traditional and present homelands of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria. Original theme music is by Ma Muse, accompanied by Joe Craven and Sam Bevan.
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