Neighbourhood Fruit Picking Pole

Jocelyn from Glen Innes

Materials:
6mm Steel Rods
28mm D x 3m L Wooden Handle
Garden Tool Green Spray paint
Vinyl Sticker Letters
Black Foam
1 x Hose Clamp
1 x Zip tie
Neighbourhood map indicating several lemon trees that are not my own

Neighbourhoods are not designed to encourage communities. Neighbourhood Fruit Picking Pole is a project interested in neighbourhood boundaries (fences, gates, berms etc..) and why we so closely follow the rules laid out by them, when they prevent us from truly connecting with the people in our neighbourhood.

When neighbourhoods are being built around making boundaries, it is important that we have objects and structures (like shared libraries) that neighbours share so they have something they can connect through.

The artist, Jocelyn Glenn, has identified the lemon tree, a common neighbourhood landmark, as an opportunity to form connections and relationships with the people in our neighbourhood. The law states that fruit can only be gathered from your neighbour’s tree if it falls naturally from their property onto the public walkway. However, when a poll was conducted, the general consensus amongst people was that as long as the fruit was outside the property, it was okay to take regardless of whether or not the fruit was still on the branch.

The poll showed that many people don’t follow the rule and continue to forage from their neighbours’ plants despite it being Communal Law. It is a rule that is not strictly followed and is not strictly enforced. So why do we have it? Do we even need it?

In October 2023, Glenn distributed a Communal Fruit Picking Pole in her neighbourhood, Glen Innes. The Fruit Picking Pole is a device the community can use to pick fruit from their neighbour’s lemon trees when the fruit is just out of reach. It is a garden tool that belongs to everyone and comes with instructions on how to use it. It also comes with a map of the lemon trees in the area and encourages that any fruit that is picked should be shared with your neighbours.

Approaching and connecting with our neighbours can be difficult with the way our neighbourhoods have been designed, however with an object that is communal, it acts as an excuse for breaking the established boundaries of our neighbourhoods and meeting our neighbours.