In Detroit, A Fruit Brigade Grows Skills, Orchards, and a Stronger Community
Detroit’s urban landscape is full of reinvention, from vacant lots turned gardens to neighbors growing community. The Urban Fruit Brigade builds on that spirit, teaching Detroiters how to care for fruit trees while strengthening the city’s food network. What began as a small volunteer effort has grown into a citywide movement of learning, teamwork, and growth.
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Contributed by Sarah Sikich, Director of Marketing & Communications
On a crisp Saturday morning in Detroit, a small group of volunteers huddles around a gnarly pear tree. The branches haven’t been pruned in years, but today, armed with pruners, gloves, and newly acquired knowledge, the team begins to work, carefully selecting what to cut, what to leave, and how to shape the canopy for better airflow and fruit production.
This is the Urban Fruit Brigade, a new program from the Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning, and Innovation, or DPFLI. It’s part workshop, part volunteer effort, and part quiet revolution, where neighbors are learning how to care for fruit trees and then using those skills to support the city’s small farms and orchards.
Bridging Gaps in Food and Knowledge
Detroit is home to a growing number of community orchards, small-scale fruit trees tucked into vacant lots, neighborhood gardens, and urban farms. But caring for those trees takes time and expertise, both of which are often in short supply. That’s where the Fruit Brigade comes in.
The program, which launched in February 2025, offers monthly, hands-on training in pruning, grafting, holistic spraying, and other orchard management techniques. Once trained, participants are invited to volunteer their new skills at local sites that could use the help.
The idea, says program manager Elena Mosher, grew from a summer volunteer series she led in 2024 to assist farmers with fruit tree maintenance across the city.
“Many of the volunteers who attended those events expressed interest in learning more about growing fruit trees and also enjoyed getting to know each farmer and their projects,” Mosher said. “Over the winter, Stathis and Naim [fellow DP-FLI program managers] helped me design the Urban Fruit Brigade, keeping the service and multi-location elements, while bringing in more of an education component.”
A fruit grower herself, still learning the ropes, Mosher planned the sessions based on her own questions.
“I largely designed the program by asking myself: What do I need to learn to successfully grow fruit trees in Detroit?” she said.
In its first year, the program has trained 47 unique participants and supported eight urban farms and orchard sites across Detroit.
“It’s a win-win,” she added. “People get access to real-world education and mentorship, and farmers get the kind of consistent, skilled support that’s often missing from seasonal volunteer programs.”
“It’s even brought me closer to many neighbors who now feel comfortable stopping by to talk about all the beautiful things growing around our property!”
‘They Showed Up. In the Cold. With Tools.’
For Leandra King, a local farmer and owner of Detroit Bed and Breakfast Farm, the Fruit Brigade has been a lifeline.
“In a time when our political climate is unpredictable and so many organizations are getting defunded, it’s a breath of fresh air to have groups that not only teach sustainability, but are also willing to get into the trenches,” King said. “When a group comes thirty deep, on a 20-degree day, to an urban farm in a sketchy neighborhood to teach folks about pruning—you know they’re committed to the cause.”
That commitment is echoed by participants like Tasha Lord, who first joined the program to avoid repeating an unfortunate incident with a native Paw Paw tree that died shortly after planting. “My goal was to have hands-on, in-person experience and training in my local zone,” Lord said. “And to meet other folks who love nature like I do.”
Today, she’s tending her own property using neem oil and comfrey tea, applying what she’s learned to grow healthy, organic food for her family and neighbors. “It's even brought me closer to many neighbors who now feel comfortable stopping by to talk about all the beautiful things growing around our property!” she adds.
“What most appealed to me was the combination of having an expert explain the topic, give a demonstration, and then let us practice what we learned.”
‘I’d Never Seen a Program Like This’
The educational format has been central to the program’s success.
Elli Brines, another participant, was drawn in by the program’s unique structure: “I’d never seen an educational series for fruit trees before,” she said. “What most appealed to me was the combination of having an expert explain the topic, give a demonstration, and then let us practice what we learned.” Now, she says, she feels confident planting and pruning fruit trees on her own, something she never would have attempted before.
For Mosher, the response to the program was both surprising and affirming. “Within a week or so of posting registration, we had over 60 people sign up,” she said. “We didn’t have that many [participants] at every session, but there were times we had to split sessions into two groups because we were over capacity. I was also shocked that over 30 people showed up to our first session in February to prune on a 20-degree day. The positive response was tremendous.”
Building a Resilient Food System, One Orchard at a Time
Detroit’s Fruit Brigade arrives at a time when urban food systems are under pressure. With federal food assistance programs like SNAP facing potential cuts, and many residents already living in areas with limited access to fresh produce, programs like this one are helping build local solutions, rooted in education, mutual aid, and long-term thinking.
Participants don’t just leave with knowledge. They leave with a sense of ownership, connection, and purpose.
“We’re not just planting and caring for trees,” Mosher said. “We’re planting and nourishing relationships.”
A Network of Shared Growth
The Fruit Brigade is part of a growing movement to build community orchards as sources of food, education, and resilience. DPFLI is a member of The Giving Grove National Network, a national nonprofit that supports community-led orchard projects in cities across the U.S. Through the affiliation, DPFLI receives ongoing training in orchard and program management, allowing the local model to evolve with best practices while staying grounded in local needs.
And while each city’s approach looks different, the roots are shared: food that’s free, skills that are taught, and communities that grow stronger together.