Portland Fruit Tree Project Programs

Harvesting:

Find out more about having a PFTP volunteer crew come harvest your fruit, or about how you can donate fruit you’ve harvested. Also learn about our partners!

Planting:

Learn more about how and where we planted fruit trees, and our hopes for the future!

Fruit Tree Index (Map):

Discover how we’re collecting data on fruit tree location, health, and productivity and how it will help build a more food secure and resilient city!

Workforce Development:

Since 2021, PFTP has been working with the Connecting Canopies Coalition to help create a diverse green sector through fruit tree care.

Community Events and Workshops:

Check out some of our signature annual events as well as information about upcoming workshops around food/cooking and fruit tree/vine/bush care, and just for fun (and eduction) happenings!

Harvest Options:

• Backyard harvests done by PFTP volunteers

• Do-it-Yourself options + Fruit Fridge

Backyard Harvest Program

Backyard Harvests are a resource for fruit tree stewards who have more fruit than they can eat, want to prevent food waste, and want their fruit to help nourish the community.

During the harvest season (roughly mid-June to early December), Portland Fruit Tree Project engages volunteers to harvest excess fruit from the yards of Portland residents, and donates the best of it to food security organizations or programs.

How it Works

1. Interested property owners fill out a form about the tree(s) and commit to the financial contribution that is right for the household.

2. We review it to see if the harvest is likely a good fit and work on scheduling a site visit.

3. When the fruit is close to ripe, the property owner let’s us know it’s “go time,” we send out a waiver and contribution form

4. When that’s done we get the harvest scheduled and recruit volunteers.

5. Following the harvest, property owners get a thank you, donation receipt, and opportunity to provide feedback. We coordinate the fruit going to partner agencies and it becomes a joyful addition to someone’s food resources!

New to 2024 - Sliding Scale Fees:

Each harvest costs $500 $500- including costs for staff time, insurance, tools, vehicle use, software, and supplies. The average donation of $30 does not begin to defray those costs even when we include grant funding. 

To ensure that we can continue to do this vital and fulfilling work on behalf of our community, we are implementing a sliding scale fee for harvests, as outlined below. Of course, additional donations above your recommended range are always welcome and go directly back into the operations of Portland Fruit Tree’s main directive - sharing fruit and sharing joy!

Sliding Scale Fee Structure:

Everyone in our community is in a different financial situation and there is no obvious standard for a family or individual’s ability to contribute. We are adopting the Embracing Equity Sliding Scale as a starting point in this journey toward a more just and equitable structure. We believe a part of equity is for people experiencing more privilege to voluntarily commit to sharing their abundance with others. In that spirit, the following is our recommendation based on the infographic below. Please plan to contribute at the amount that is right for you and your family. 

Full Bottle: $500+ (100% of the harvest cost)

Half Full Bottle: 250+ (50% of the harvest cost)

Not Half Full Bottle: $35+ (7% of the harvest cost)

things to note

In a normal year, we receive more inquiries than we can sustainably serve, so we have to make difficult decisions about which trees we can harvest each year. We prioritize trees that we are able to safely harvest and those that have the highest quality fruit for sharing with our partners.

If we are unable to harvest your tree this season, but you would still like to share your fruit, please consider harvesting it on your own and bring it to the Fruit Fridge! Here’s how it works!

Here’s a Spanish version of our Harvest Calendar!

Notes for attendance: bring (identified) personal tools, dress for the weather!

Check out our upcoming list of harvest dates (June-November) and workshop dates! Follow these links to register to volunteer at harvests or to help at our events! Workshops and events (listed on the events page https://www.portlandfruit.org/event-calendar help fund our ongoing work, but there are scholarships available for each event or workshop, or - you can usually volunteer! Contact treecare@portlandfruit.org for information on workshops, and volunteer@portlandfruit.org for information on volunteering.

“Thank you for your winter pruning workshop. It was very helpful for me and gave me confidence in pruning our trees here. I came home after the workshop and analyzed each tree in our big garden. Because of your workshop, I now have a game plan for each tree. This was a wonderful feeling for me: I now know how I am going to approach each tree…something I did not have the day before.” - Workshop attendee

Harvest Options Index:

• Backyard harvests done by PFTP volunteers

• Do-it-Yourself options including the Fruit Fridge Drop Off

DIY Harvests

Do you have a fruit tree that you can harvest yourself, and you're looking for information on how to harvest and where to donate the fruit? Check out our DIY Harvesting Kit to learn more.

Do you have a fruit tree and would like your neighbors to come help themselves to the fruit? You can post on our Share in Harvest FB Group and other community sites!

Looking to hone your skills? Consider scheduling a Coaching Session!

Fruit Drop Off

Did you harvest more than you and your friends/family/neighbors/unsuspecting strangers can use? We welcome your high quality fruit donations to our publicly accessible Fruit Fridge!

How it works:

1. Use our DIY Guide (above) to sort your fruit, so that we can be sure all donations are usable by our partner organizations

2. Email or text us that you’re swinging some fruit over and roughly how ripe it is - this allows us to get fruit distributed in a timely manner

3. Drop the fruit off!

   1. Migrate your fruit to standard sized containers if you would like your containers back

   2. Weigh your fruit (scale provided)

   3. Fill out this quick form so we can get you a donation receipt and track where fruit comes from in case we need to track it back for any reason)

4. We’ll get your fruit to partner organizations based on their distribution days and cultural needs/wants, ensuring it is used and loved

5. We’ll send you a donation receipt for your taxes

Our backyard harvest partners are incredibly important to our organization! They are how the fruit we harvest gets distributed to the people that need it. Each partner is working in different ways to help those that are food insecure in and around our city. To learn more about each organization, click on their logos below.

Are you curious about how things are going with our partner groups? We were, so we implemented an annual interview and evaluation process. Our findings are in this slide show and we invite you to learn with us!

Index Hub

 Project Vision and Goals: 

Ensure that every fruit tree in the PDX metro area is seen as an abundant resource for the neighborhood by:

1) identifying/locating it, 

2) assessing/measuring it, 

3) engaging in an intervention plan (planting, care, removal/replacement, or harvest, etc) as needed/invited, 

4) contributing to research about fruit trees in our urban canopy.

We believe that more data, tracking, and care for fruit trees will equate to more high quality fruit to eat and share, increased fruit tree retention - which also means more shade, and more equitable local food production and access.