Woman starts project to pick abundant fruit from trees

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There's a bounty of fruit that goes uneaten in the city. It's not fruit found at the local grocery store or corner market, nor at the local farmers market. Instead, it's the cherries, apples and plums found right in Toronto's backyards.

Local resident Laura Reinsborough had a dream to harvest the fruit that does not fulfill its destiny as food. Inspired by a movement of harvesting fruit found in public spaces in other cities, Reinsborough created a pilot project in Toronto last year called Not Far From The Tree.

The project saw Reinsborough picking apples at Spadina Museum in the Annex.

"They do use some of the fruit in cooking programs but most of the time the fruit falls to the ground and becomes a task for gardeners to deal with," she said.

There are a number of fruit trees on the property.

"It's the remnants of the orchard the Austin family had on the property," said Wendy Woodworth, a senior horticulturist at the museum. The Austin family lived in the estate.

She said the museum tries to use as much of the fruit as possible but sometimes there is just too much. So when she was approached by the Green Barn Farmers Market with a request to harvest some of the bounty, she agreed.

"They suggested they could come and harvest them (the fruit) under my direction and sell (it) at the market," Woodworth said.

It was Reinsborough, a volunteer at the market, who was recruited to do the harvesting.

From that initial harvest, the program has grown to include backyard trees in Ward 21 (St. Paul's).

As a former suburb, the neighbourhood has lots of apple, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees that were planted as a border between the city and the rural area around it.

"Remnants of those orchards can be found throughout the city as the border of the city has expanded, but there are also new trees that have been planted," Reinsborough said.

Sometimes a homeowner is unaware the tree in their backyard is a fruit tree (blossoms on the tree is a way to figure it out) or they don't feel comfortable eating its fruit. Not Far From the Tree wants to grow the program to be able to be a resource for those homeowners. Reinsborough said the program's goal is to help homeowners make use of resources found on their properties - the ultimate in the local food movement.

Even after homeowners enjoy the bounty of fruit themselves and with their neighbours, the fruit is still "just hanging off the branches, the tree is so overloaded," becoming a burden by creating a mess when it falls to the ground or attracting pests.

"Hopefully this type of project will address those issues," Reinsborough said.

Several homeowners have already signed up to have their trees harvested with the bounty being split between homeowners, volunteers and community organizations such as food banks and shelters.

Those interested in having their fruit harvested or in volunteering to harvest can e-mail notfarfromthetree.org@gmail.com or visit http://notfarfromthetree.wordpress.com.