A different kind of Victory Garden
It's one of those "California" ideas. Instead of growing just vegetables in community gardens, why not include fruit, too?
That's exactly what a group called the Fruit Tree Tour is doing -- planting "Victory Orchards" in as many of the Golden State's low-income communities as possible.
Over five years, the activists of 聽 have donated several thousand fruit trees, trying to have in each city they visit.
This year, traveling in buses converted to run on 100 percent recycled vegetable oil, they'll be taking 1,000 bare-root fruit trees along on their to 30 California cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and points beyond.
They choose neighborhoods where there are few fresh-food outlets and a large percentage of the young people rely on state-funded meal programs.
Using , they also preach a message of聽 lessening dependence on fossil fuels. A TV program about this eco-educational program .
You can follow the group on Facebook, , and . And see a video on . I really liked the Flickr photos because you got such a good sense of what's happening and how -- and everyone really seems to be happy about it all.
When so many people hard-hit in the recession, it's nice to know that some people are thinking creatively about improving the diets of those who can least afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for themselves.
(Note: We invite you to visit the main page of the Monitor鈥檚 gardening site ,聽where you can find many聽articles, essays, and blog posts on聽various garden聽topics.)
