City Fruit is so excited to kick off this year’s harvest season this May! We have plans to expand our geographic reach and increase opportunities for learning and volunteers!
Because of low fruit production last year, City Fruit has allocated our resources this year to expand to residential homes in Burien, Bellevue, and Kirkland. We have already been working in public orchards in these communities, and hope reaching out to tree owners will help us harvest more locally grown fruit to redistribute to local food banks and meal programs. Our new harvest coordinator Bennett Walkes has been busy outreaching to these communities by attending neighborhood meetings and events, getting announcements out in local news and bulletin boards, sending messages through religious centers, and more!
We hope to add a couple of hundred fruit trees this year across Seattle and the East and South this year, and would love to have you help us spread the word!
We are also excited about expanded stewardship and harvest opportunities at public orchards we serve, including McAuliffe and Longacres in Renton.
Our expanded efforts mean we have a lot to celebrate this harvest season, and we hope you may join us at a nearby future event! Come by to chat and support our work! Getting more community members involved in our work helps ensure we have the capacity to train and host volunteers and interns to harvest all the new trees and orchards we hope to have in our harvest program this year! If you’re interested in getting involved, supporting City Fruit, or just want to learn more about us, check out one of these neighborhood events near you:
Monday, April 17 – Pint Night @ Old Stove Ship Canal – Mariner’s Watch Party! Come and buy a beer and $1 of it will go directly towards our harvest efforts.
Saturday, April 22 – Earth Day event at High Point’s Commons Park hosted by Seattle Housing Authority! City Fruit will be tabling and providing wildflower bomb bags!
• Seattle Cider’s Earth Day party – release of the City Fruit cider!
Thursday, May 4 – Mulching and complementary planting at Troll’s Knoll Orchard. Sign up here!
Wednesday, May 10 – First night of fruit-based trivia @ Halcyon Brewing
Wednesday, May 24 – Second night of fruit-based trivia @ Burke Gilman Brewing
• Register yourself for a minimum of $5, or a team of up to 6 for $25 and put your fruit expertise to the test to win an apple trophy!
Can’t attend our trivia events? Consider supporting our #GiveBIG fundraiser! You can help us further the accessibility of fresh, organic fruit within our community, and plant more orchards throughout the Greater Seattle Area by spreading awareness for our #GiveBIG fundraiser among your friends, family, and co-workers! Your support will help us reach our goal of raising $10,000 by May 3rd to help us expand our Harvest Program to serve more communities and plant more orchards in public parks throughout the Greater Seattle Area! Use the link below to share our fundraiser with your network! Every amount will make a difference within our community.
We hope to see you at one of these upcoming events! For more information about our Pint Nights and Trivia Events, reach out to Riley at [email protected].