The summer went rather fast, we had many meetings on the orchard that it was hard to keep up with the blog... But here we go again, updating what has been going on with the project.
Looking for public fruits in Finland
Lahti - XIth IIAA summer conference on Environmental Aesthetics
In August Urban Orchards-Pick Your (city) Fruits went north. I was at the IIAA 2015 summer conference on "Sustainable City Life. Exploring Aesthetic Values in Urban Settings" in Lahti, with a presentation entitled "Orchards as Sustainable Art Projects: Urban Orchards and the Idea of Aesthetic Experience of the City"", sharing the preliminary results of the project, how it brings people together and the impact it can have on the appropriation of the public space. There was a great response and support from the audience, as well as a nice debate and exchange of thoughts, ideas and plans for the future.
The previous evening, at the conference dinner, we went berry picking in the woods around the lake, which was a great experience and wonderful introduction to my presentation!
The previous evening, at the conference dinner, we went berry picking in the woods around the lake, which was a great experience and wonderful introduction to my presentation!
Delicious wild raspberries! There were also wild blueberries, back and red currants and the most amazing wild strawberries. We'll be including fruits bushes in our design, that's certain!
Helsinki
After the conference. I headed for Helsinki, to meet Joel from Dodo, an environmental organization that, among other interests, develops projects related to urban agriculture. I had seen some of those projects online and thought it would be nice to visit them and learn on spot. It was very nice indeed!
The project I was most interested in was Syötävä puisto, an edible garden open for anyone to join and harvest, with fruit trees, berry bushes and vegetables. Joel was very nice and took me there, explaining how it works and difficulties faced.
The project I was most interested in was Syötävä puisto, an edible garden open for anyone to join and harvest, with fruit trees, berry bushes and vegetables. Joel was very nice and took me there, explaining how it works and difficulties faced.
It was really nice to see a fruit garden planted a year ago already producing. Besides, it is a really nice place! It was great to learn about how it works, their strategies for maintaining and keeping it running.
The trees and shrubs are watered with hose or watering can. There are volunteers that adopt trees and are responsible for watering them. There are workshops, training courses and summer events in the edible garden.
Tyrni (Fin), Hippophae rhamnoides (lat) Sea Buckthorn (Eng) or Espinheiro marítimo (Port). Delicious and very healthy (high doses of Vit.C), but really sour! A pioneer plant in Finland, also occurring in Portugal (good news for our orchard!)
On the way to the edible garden we passed by a pear orchard planted by the municipality when a new apartment block was built some years ago. It wasn't planted as a community orchard, but it was expected that residents would harvest the trees, which they do, of course!
It is wonderful to see how urban agriculture projects thrive in Helsinki, how people are engaged and respect them. This may sound weird for a Finn, but in Portugal one of the main concerns people show us in what relates to "public fruit" is: Won't people steal the fruits? Isn't it all taken away as soon as it ripens? Am I going to work for months in a row to water and protect a tree for someone to came along along steal it? NO. Not in Helsinki! It is great to hear that as people see the public space as theirs, it makes no sense for them to vandalize it or to spoil it, let alone steal (when I mentioned theft to Joel I realized stealing is the wrong word here, as taking a couple of fruits with you is precisely what is expected from you).
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If you're wondering about the nets around the tree trunks...
look at the center of the picture.... trees must be protected from rabbits! In winter, when there is not much food around, tree trunks are a treat!