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Fruit is a valuable community resource. In 2009, Community Fruit Tree Harvest (CFTH)volunteers harvested more than 19,600 pounds of apples, plums and pears from Seattle fruit trees and delivered it to people with limited access to organic produce. Harvesting this fruit depends on significant community support.
Great New Resource!
Solid Ground's former CFTH project coordinator, Gail Savina, compiled her knowledge organizing fruit tree harvests into a comprehensive handbook: GATHER IT! How to Organize an Urban Fruit Harvest. This step-by-step guide is packed with information to help communities start their own volunteer-based fruit harvest projects.
- Why harvest fruit? Every year thousands of pounds of fruit fall to the ground and rot, creating a public health hazard and a waste management problem. Meanwhile, thousands of Seattle residents can’t afford organic produce. Harvesting the fruit and delivering it to those who need it is a win-win situation.
- Donate fruit. Fruit must be pesticide-free and in good condition. To donate fruit from your tree, call Seattle Tilth’s Garden Hotline at 206.633.0224 or email help@gardenhotline.org.
- Harvest fruit. Volunteers harvest fruit from July through September. Regular harvests take place Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings, and also are scheduled as needed or by special arrangement. Groups are welcome!
- Deliver fruit. The Community Fruit Tree Harvest has delivered fruit to more than 63 organizations, including food banks, meals programs, shelters and senior centers. We need volunteers with vehicles to deliver this fruit.
During harvest season, Community Fruit Tree Harvest needs volunteers to help with the following tasks:
- “Scout” trees in your neighborhood to see if they are ripe before sending volunteers to harvest.
- Harvest at scheduled work parties.
- Be “on call” to harvest fruit in your neighborhood. (An email will go out to the volunteers in a particular neighborhood when a tree there is ripe. Available volunteers will make arrangements for picking.)
- Provide garage storage for ladders, picking buckets, and/or harvested fruit.
- Deliver harvested fruit to food banks, meal programs and low-income apartments.
- Meet with staff at recipient organizations to determine how to best serve their needs when donating fruit.
If you are a new volunteer or have not applied in the past, fill out a Volunteer Application and return it to sadieb@solid-ground.org.
Useful Fruit Donation Documents
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Where to Donate 2009: A comprehensive list of Seattle-area food banks, meal programs and low-income apartment buildings that gladly accept fresh produce donations, including contact information, best hours to donate, and preferred donations.
Community Fruit Tree Harvest in the News:
Other Fruit Tree Projects:
- Backyard Harvest (Pullman, WA/Moscow, ID/Santa Barbara, CA)
- City Fruit (Seattle/King County, WA)
- Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle (CHOSS) (West Seattle, WA)
- The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (San Diego, CA)
- Neighborhood Harvest - Rogue Valley (Ashland, OR)
- North Berkeley Harvest (North Berkeley, CA)
- Portland Fruit Tree Project (Portland, OR)
- Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project (Berkeley, CA)
- Tree People (Beverly Hills, CA)
- Vancouver Fruit Tree Project (British Columbia)
- Village Harvest (San Jose, CA)
Community Fruit Tree Harvest is a project of Solid Ground's Lettuce Link program. Check out Lettuce Link's Blog.
Phone: 206.694.6754
TTY: 7.1.1
Email: lettucelink@solid-ground.org
FAX: 206.694.6777
Address: Lettuce Link
Solid Ground
1501 North 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103-6708