Apples, Pears, Figs Galore? How to Donate Your Tree Fruit

By Seattle Mag October 10, 2012

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Walking through my neighborhood, I can’t help but covet the fig trees weighed down with green figs on the verge of full ripeness, the Asian pear tree in my neighbor’s yard which holds, I’d guess, 40lbs of fruit right now. But in a few weeks, these and the myriad apples that are ripe right now in trees on nearly every Seattle street will perish, rot, or fall and turn to brown muck on the sidewalks if they’re not picked and eaten.

Enter: Seattle Tilth’s Garden Hotline! You call them, they call you, together you set up a time to have volunteers come pick the fruit from your (pesticide-free) fruit trees! They take the fruit to a local food bank. And that’s it. Really. It’s that easy.

It’s a convenient and free way to help hungry folks in the area. No one likes to see good food go to waste, especially fruit this good at its seasonal peek.
Got a fruit tree full of pears, apples or figs? Click here to read through the FAQ and then call the Garden Hotline at 206.633.0224 today. Or: pick the fruit yourself with the help of kids and neighbors and donate it at one of these local food banks. Or volunteer to pick other people’s fruit. Any way you look at it, it’s a win-win.

 

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