Just about everyone seems to be growing their own these days. But dealing with a bumper crop can be a sticky situation, especially when it comes to fruit trees. Just one apple tree can produce way more fruit than most households can use in pies, sauces and school lunches.
If you usually have fruit rotting in your yard at the end of the summer, consider registering your tree with the Minnesota Project's Fruits of the City program. Starting in mid-August, volunteers will harvest and deliver surplus ripe fruit where it's needed -- to Minnesota food shelves.
"We realized there was a need for local fresh fruit and saw a valuable resource that was going to waste," said Heidi Coe, Fruits of the City coordinator.
Since food shelves are typically stocked with canned and packaged goods, patrons really appreciate fresh produce, she said.
Taking part in the program also is a way for tree owners overwhelmed by excess fruit and the resultant mess to get help. "After harvesting, we clean up under the tree and compost," Coe said.
On July 27, Fruits of the City will hold a launch party in Roseville to find people willing to "donate" their trees as well as harvesters to help pick and package produce. Even kids 8 and up can help, if accompanied by an adult.
The program, which started in 2009, trucked more than 23,000 pounds of apples, pears and plums to 11 food shelves last year, said Coe. She hopes it will continue to grow with the help of the launch party, booths at local home and garden shows and social media. This season's goal is to register 100 city and suburban fruit tree owners and organize 200 volunteers to pick 36,000 pounds before frost hits in October. "That's equivalent to 6,500 family servings," said Coe.
Fruits of the City also offers fruit tree care classes, including pruning workshops in late fall. "If we improve the quality of the fruit, there's more to donate," she said.
