Be Respectful - Take care of the trees and property, we are guests
Have Fun :)
The general flow of the harvest is:
Sample the fruit
Clean up fallen fruit
Harvest
Clean up site
Weigh in
Divvy up the take
Go home and enjoy the fruit
More details for each section are below:
#1 Sample the fruit
The first thing we encourage you to do is to sample the fruit, so you know the quality and taste of what we're harvesting. This isn't advised for pears, quince, and other fruit that need to ripen off the tree or be processed.
#2 Clean up fallen fruit
This serves a number of purposes. It makes a nicer and safer working environment, it thanks the homeowner, and lets us know that fruit that ends up on the ground while we're harvesting has just fallen.
#3 Harvest
This is the bulk of the time and the most fun. Feel free to read our harvesting tips for advice for specific fruit. Make sure to follow the 3 rules while harvesting.
#4 Clean up site
After the harvest, we leave the site looking better than we found it. We are guests on other people's property and we want to be asked back next year. We return everything that was borrowed and put everything back to how we found it when we arrived. If you're not sure where something goes, ask. We also like to thank the homeowner and tree for sharing the abundance w/ us.
#5 Weigh in
This is where we see how much we were able to harvest. You'll be amazed at the quantity of fruit (hopefully).
#6 Divvy up the take
Volunteers are invited to take home as much as they can use, up to a quarter of the total harvest. (The quarter is divided between all the volunteer pickers). There is usually plenty of fruit to go around.
#7 Go home and enjoy the fruit
Check out our [recipes] page for ideas on how to use your fruit. Tell your friends and send us feedback on your experience.