MOTHER’s Celebration of Eco-Friendly, Back-to-the-Land People

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PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Mr. Orange (far right in the photo) guided his students in the construction of their school's flourishing greenhouse . . . and encouraged them to take part in the organization of neighborhood tree plantings.

In celebration of little-known eco-friendly, back-to-the-land MOTHER-type folks from all over.

HERB ORANGE: A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN

Orchards in the Big Apple? Well, that notion doesn’t sound so farfetched to folks who’ve been fortunate enough to meet Mr. Herb Orange. You see, from 1975 to 1978 Herb had the distinction of being the only agriculture teacher in Brooklyn, New York . . . and as such, the Edward R. Murrow High School instructor created a program that gave many inner-city youths their first exposure to horticulture.

Mr. Orange guided his students in the construction of their school’s flourishing greenhouse . . . and encouraged them to take part in the organization of neighborhood tree plantings. In addition, the teenagers gained hands-on experience as they assisted workers from the National Park Service and the New York City Parks and Recreation Department in the maintenance and restoration of public grounds. As a native New Yorker, Herb has long been convinced that gardens could replace a large portion of the city’s estimated 24,000 acres of vacant land . . . and his courses have already helped fill the ranks of community associations that undertake such tasks as transforming brick-and-rubble-strewn lots into productive vegetable plots.

In 1978 Herb bid farewell to the Empire State, since he’d been chosen to head the Clark College horticulture department in Vancouver, Washington. But he left behind a good many enlightened students . . . and an agriculture program that promises to continue showing the way to young urbanites of the future. — Eric Freedman.

  • Published on Sep 1, 1982
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