City Fruit | Harvest: Overview

Figure out how to get all that good, juicy fruit from the tree in to your hands -- either on your own or with a little help. And what you do with that fruit is up to you. We suggest eating some yourself and giving some away.

Harvest Your Fruit

Deciding the best time for picking fruit is as much an art as a science. For one thing, not all the fruit on a tree is ripe at once: high fruit exposed to the sun is usually ready sooner than the lower, shaded fruits. More...

Get Harvest Help

If you can pick your own tree and would like help delivering the fruit, check out the list of recipient organizations. More...

Share Extra Fruit

Don't let food go to waste. The organizations listed here would love to have any extra fruit you have. More...

Harvest Fruit

Overview
Harvest Your Fruit
Get Harvest Help
Share Extra
Volunteer to Harvest
Fruit Harvest Handbook

Picking Fruit

The following tips apply to picking fruit:

For apples and pears, lift and twist. Plums will give easily.

Keep stems attached to fruit, if possible. (Fruit lasts longer if there isn’t a hole for bacteria to enter.)

Don’t overfill boxes and bags, especially with soft fruit.

If you pick up fruit off the ground, be sure to wash it. It can pose a risk of E coli.

Try to pick all the fruit, if possible, since fruit left on the tree (or under the tree) attracts fruit pests.