Fruits of the City

Planting orchards, harvesting surplus fruit,
and teaching fruit tree care

Eating locally saves fuel and allows us to taste the ripest, freshest flavors of heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties. Local foods aren’t available in every urban neighborhood, however, and are often out of the price-range for low and middle-income residents.

Fruits of the City is a new program of the Minnesota Project that is helping Twin Cities neighborhoods and communities grow and harvest fresh fruit. Planting and caring for fruit trees is a long-term commitment and requires different knowledge and skills than growing a veggie garden. Fruits of the City will bring together arborists, community gardeners, food shelves, volunteers & local businesses to grow our urban orchard.

Our projects for 2010 include:

Fruit Gleaning – Volunteers gather to pick fruit from underused trees. Volunteers keep some fruit and the rest goes to local food shelves and community programs. Read an article in the Winter 2009 edition of Edible Twin Cities about this program, or click here for more information.

Community Orchards – We work with community gardens, youth programs, and other neighborhood groups to plant fruit orchards on their land

Fruit Tree Classes – Workshops by experts in fruit tree training, pruning, and overall care

Reclaiming Old Orchards – We have learned of several abandoned or neglected orchards around the Twin Cities. We seek permission to prune and renovate the trees, and for our gleaners to harvest the fruit.