#AAGDC, part 3: care
Megan Betz
In examining the community orchard, I am struck by how the concepts of care and managements fold together or overlay. We establish an orchard management plan to guild what happens at workdays. Is a component of that work care? Or is a principle of care guiding how we manage? If we manage our fields but care for our lawns, can we distinguish the two by a professional (managerial) and personal (caring, potentially affectionate) divide or continuum? If so, what happens to the lawn? In “caring” for the concept of the lawn, we do violence against the species that comprise it–and so, it seems, breaking down the language of our action can highlight the thing–species, concept, construct–we aim to uphold. I hope to keep this in mind as my analysis of the language and practice of the community orchard unfolds.
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