Transition Stories: What is Community?

In 2010, Hannah and I bought a home in Egleston Square after living in the area for about a year. One of the things that brought us together as a couple is a shared vision of community and sustainable living, and a desire to work for social justice and community power. But, as Hannah's mother likes to ask, "what is community?"

Good question! With so many of our friends so mobile and moving off to California every few years, with family spread out across the US (for me) and the UK (for Hannah), with different cultures, languages, religions and histories all jumbled together in an urban neighborhood like Egleston Square, sitting at the cross section of JP and Roxbury -- what exactly is community?

Well we decided to find out by acting, so that Spring we went door to door to ask our neighbors about the vacant lot at 195 Boylston Street - what was its history and what did people want to see happen there? We heard that 30 years ago it had a house on it that had burned down and was vacant ever since. At one point neighborhood kids used to play baseball in the lot, later it had been a memorial site for a shooting victim, and a place were people had buried unwanted trash. When we proposed cleaning it up and making it a useable space for neighbors, everyone we spoke with was delighted. Some even joined in to help.

Over the next two years a growing group of volunteers has organized work days to clean up the lot, plant wild flowers, apple trees, raspberries, blueberries, red currants, and build raised beds for greens. donated a birdbath, complete with water slide and small chairs for sunbathing sparrows. , on Centre Street, donated gloves, shovels, yard waste bags, and other tools. donated coffee and fruit. And dozens of neighbors donated time, plants, ice cream, cold beers, rain barrels, composters, tools, a "peace pole", and expertise in permaculture, soil remediation, fruit tree planting, carpentry, community organizing, painting, sculpture, Spanish translation, fundraising, strategic planning, and more.

After each workday, with the chaos of ten or twenty folks buzzing about, I feel energized with gratitude for what we accomplish together. I feel pride in my neighborhood and connected to new friends, and joy at watching our garden grow. In the winter a core group of us keeps the fire burning, planning the next season over weekend brunches filled with laughter and irreverent humor.

Thus was born the Egleston Community Orchard, an ongoing experiment in planting the seeds of community and growing fruit.

This May, we plan to march from the Egleston Peace Garden to join in the Wake Up The Earth parade, and we'll be at the festival handing out wildflower packets. Come by and say hi.

[I will be sharing more stories of people building community resilience across JP as part of Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition (JP NET) , a neighbor-led effort to ensure all of us can live well in the new economy (”like” us on Facebook!). Let me know what you think and drop me a line to share what you are up to in your corner of JP!]