Though Alcott had come up with the idea of Fruitlands himself, he was not involved in purchasing the land, largely because he was penniless after the failure of his Temple School and his subsequent years in Concord, Massachusetts as a farmer.
尽管奥尔柯特自己提出了果园公社的想法，他并没有参与购买土地，很大程度上是因为他在神庙学校失败后以及随后几年在马萨诸塞州康科德作为一个农民身无分文。