Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely! We’re pretty sure our fruit pickers would be thrilled!

Follow the same process for creating a successful pick, just choose OTHER for the type of fruit and fill in the blank.

Nope, it’s totally up to you.

When you create a pick, you can check if you wish to be at home or if pickers can pick even if you’re not at home.

We encourage fruit pickers to always knock on your door when they arrive as a common courtesy.  If you don’t wish to participate just say hello and point the pickers in the right direction.

Not if you don’t want to. The choice is totally up to you.

It’s nice to welcome the pickers and visit with them for a while if you can, but there’s no obligation for you to be there or to help pick the fruit.

You’ve come to the right place! List your fruit on Fruit Connect to let potential pickers know it’s available.

Log in to Fruit Connect, Subscribe for Unlimited Access ($10.75) and Create a Pick.

For detailed instructions, read How to Create a Successful Pick.

Every fruit has different tell tale signs. We’ve provided a little info on common fruit harvested through Fruit Share – read more here.

Passwords! Ugh, we get it, there’s just so many to keep track of. Luckily, resetting your password on Fruit Connect is easy. Here’s how…

Step 1:

Go to the login screen and hit Forgot Password.

Step 2: 

Enter your email address you used with Fruit Connect. You can try several different emails, if you can’t remember which of your emails you used.

Step 3: 

Check your inbox. The email is sent right away as indicated by the Email sent notice that pops up on the screen.

If you don’t see an email in your inbox, check your spam folder for a NoReply email from [email protected]. Also, check your settings for how quickly your email is set to automatically refresh for the email address you used for Fruit Connect.

Here’s what you should see in your inbox.

Step 4:

Follow the link in the email back to Fruit Connect where you can enter and confirm a new password that is tied specifically to your account.

Step 5

You are back in business. Once you hit reset password, you’ll be taken to your account where you’re ready to pick up where you left off.

You’ve done the hardest part, nice work!

The fun part is sharing it with others. Here are some options:

• Drop your fruit off at one of the organizations in Winnipeg that accept fruit donations.
• Create a listing on Fruit Connect stating that the fruit has already been harvested and just needs to be picked up. If you haven’t done so, ask the recipients to share a portion with a community group.
• Use your social media to let your network know you have fruit.

Here’s what we’ve seen works best:

1. Post picks in a timely manner.  Judge the ripeness of your fruit and try to post picks a week in advance of the optimal pick time.
2. Provide honest, detailed descriptions. The more information you can provide about your fruit the better. For example, even if you don’t know the variety tell potential pickers as much as you can about the color, size, ripeness, flavor, quality, use (juicing, eating or baking), etc. of your fruit and how much fruit is available and how easy or difficult it is to get at (eg. fruit is at the top of a tree higher than the garage).
3. Communicate with pickers. Email attendees and start a group conversation with all pickers, even if they’re coming on different days. The more rapport you build with pickers, the more successful the pick will be.
4. Choose pick times convenient for pickers. Most pickers have day jobs, so think about scheduling picks early weekday evenings or on the weekends. Or consider setting up a flexible pick where pickers can contact you to arrange a convenient picking time.
5. Promote your pick & Fruit Connect. Use your social media or your connections to let people know you’ve posted your fruit on Fruit Connect. The more people who are talking about it, the more potential pickers will see your posting.

These ideas will help, but sometimes there’s just too much fruit and not enough pickers, especially when it comes to crab apples.

While you’re busy promoting your own fruit to be harvested, we’ll continue to promote Fruit Connect and rescuing local fruit. Together we can work together to get more fruit harvested, shared and enjoyed!

The day before the pick…

Fruit owners receive an email reminding them of the upcoming pick and providing information about who is attending.

Fruit owners are encouraged to email all attendees to confirm details. Fruit pickers and fruit owners should have clear expectations about the type, quality and ripeness of the fruit, who will pick when (if there are multiple pickers on different dates), who will bring what equipment and how much of the fruit will be picked (will all the fruit be picked, only one hours worth of fruit or only one box worth of fruit?).

The day of the pick…

Arrival at the Pick

Fruit pickers arrive at the pick location at the agreed upon time with all necessary equipment (ladders, gloves, rakes, container, etc.).

As a common courtesy, fruit pickers knock on the door to let the fruit owner know they’ve arrived. If the fruit owner is not home, fruit pickers may enter the property as long as the fruit owner indicated they may pick even if not home on the pick listing.

Fruit pickers assess the yard and the condition of the fruit. If the yard is safe for picking and the fruit is ripe, picking may begin. If fruit pickers have any hesitation about their safety or concerns about the quality of the fruit they may leave the site. They should let the fruit owner know their concerns either while at the site or via a follow-up email.

Picking Begins

Before picking begins, any existing dropped fruit should be removed. Dropped fruit should be placed in a specified compost bin (if made available by the fruit owner), gathered in garbage bags and neatly stored off to the side or taken away to an offsite compost site (if fruit pickers have access to one). Due to possible contamination, it is not recommended that dropped fruit be used by fruit pickers. Dropped fruit should never be donated to community groups or used for cider pressing.

Once the area is cleared, pickers harvest the fruit.  This may take anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours depending on the type and amount of fruit and the number of pickers. Fruit pickers must show care and respect for fruit owners’ properties and fruit plants while at the same time being safe and avoiding unnecessary risks. This may mean that some parts of a fruit tree may not get picked (e.g. if the fruit hangs over a delicate structure or the fruit is higher than can be safely reached with a ladder, etc.).

When finished, pickers clear the area and leave it as neat and tidy as they found it.

Pickers are responsible for splitting and sharing the fruit 3 ways (1/3 each to the fruit owner, the pickers and a community group unless otherwise noted in the confirmation).

After the Pick

Pickers are responsible for returning to the Fruit Connect site to let Fruit Share know how much fruit was harvested and where it was donated.

It’s up to you, the fruit owner and fellow pickers. Email each other and discuss. Email addresses of fruit owners and attendees are towards the bottom of the pick information.

If it’s a light rain, you may choose to go ahead with the pick.

If there this thunder and lightening, please don’t go.

We want you to be safe, sometimes that means rescheduling.

We get it, things happen. Simply log in to Fruit Connect and make necessary changes to your pick information.

If your pick has any pickers signed up, we highly encourage you to email them and let them what’s going. The system will send them a notice that there has been a change, but getting a personal email from you is so much better and helps build better relationships.

Details for Changing or Cancelling a Pick

1. Log in to your account in Fruit Connect.

2. Click My Account at the top right.

3. Find the pick you’d like to change under Picks You Are Hosting and click on it.

4. In the left column click on Edit to change information or click Cancel to delete it.

5. Make whatever changes you need then hit Update at the bottom of the form.

6. If you hit Cancel, you’ll be prompted to confirm. Once you agree to cancel, the pick info is gone forever.

7. If there are attendees, be courteous and email them to let them know what’s happening. Their email addresses are listed towards the bottom, simply scroll down.

Aw, shucks, sometimes, there are just not enough fruit pickers to harvest all the fruit.

Here are some ideas for what else you can do:

Put a call out on your social media. You never know who in your network might be interested in fruit.

Host a picking party. Picking fruit is more fun when there are several people doing it together. Serve some iced tea and a tray of cookies and you’re guaranteed to have a good time. Encourage the group to pick an extra bag for a senior down the street who may be unable to participate. It’s a great way to build positive relationships with your neighbours.

Hire a neighbourhood teenager to harvest your fruit for you. If you don’t know who to call, ask your community centre for a list of neighbourhood babysitters or dog walkers. These keen, young individuals might consider adding fruit picking to their repertoire of services.

Post a notice at your local garden club, church or community centre advertising delicious, free fruit available for picking.

Put a classified ad in your community paper or online at sites like Kijiji or your Community Buy and Sell.

Ask vendors at your local Farmers’ Market if they would be interested in picking your fruit. Those that sell homemade preserves or fresh produce might be pleased to make good use of your crop.

Ask a local community group to pick your fruit. Call groups like the Boys and Girls Club, Scouts Canada, Brownies, school groups, etc. Suggest that they donate the fruit to a local food charity or use the fruit for their own purposes.

Call a neighbourhood development organization, community garden club or another food group that offers food preserving workshops. These groups may appreciate free supplies.

Call a local Hutterite Colony to see if they would be interested in picking your fruit. A listing of Hutterite Colonies in the prairies can be found at www.hutterites.org under the Hutterite Directory.

A flexible pick is selected by fruit owners when they want to give fruit pickers a 1-7 day period to pick fruit rather than setting one specific date and time.

In order for flexible picks to work, fruit pickers and fruit owner must email everyone involved to confirm who’s picking when, how much and how fruit gets shared. For example Picker 1 picks half the apple tree on Tuesday at 10 am, Picker 2 picks the other half on Wednesday at 7 pm. The fruit owner and both pickers have agreed that each picker will leave a bag of apples for the fruit owner and share 1/3 of their take home apples with a community group of their choice.

While it does require more coordination and communication by everyone involved, we hope that greater flexibility means more fruit gets rescued.

Here’s what fruit owners see when they create a flexible pick.

Here’s what a flexible pick looks like in the pick list.

After the harvest, here’s what we suggest…

1. Touch base with the pickers. Let them know you appreciate their help to manage your fruit.
2. Tidy up. There may be some compost material that fruit pickers put aside – depending on what you all agreed upon before the pick. It’s not always possible for pickers to take compost material with them.
3. Share your story with us. Send us photos or let us know how things went at [email protected].
4. Enjoy your share of fruit. If you kept some of the fruit, check out some of the fruity recipes and preserves we’ve collected over the years.

Thanks for sharing your fruit!

Ideally you want to list your fruit a 4 to 6 days before it’s ready to pick. This will give pickers enough time to make time in their schedule to pick fruit but is close enough for you to judge the ripeness of the fruit.

The majority of fruit pickers work day shifts. If you are setting a specific date and time, we’ve found weekends or early evenings on weekdays to work best.

Of course you can also create a flexible pick that lets pickers contact you about what date and time work best for them.

Avoid listing your fruit too far in advance of the actual harvest. Pickers often overlook these listings and are afraid the fruit owner doesn’t have a good idea of whether or not the fruit is actually ripe.

Only paid subscribers are covered by our insurance.  Our insurance company says anyone attending a pick should be a paid subscriber so that they are properly covered.

And really, registration is easy and not that expensive – it sure helps us out when people subscribe.

Yes you can. We love exposing kids to the fruit picking experience.  But be aware of certain challenges when bringing kids.

You are responsible for the safety of your kids and making sure they are respectful of other pickers and the homeowner’s property.

Remember…

• A pick may be 1-2 hours long.
• Picking and lugging fruit are heavy work.
• You never know the condition of the yard you’re entering – is it fenced? are there pets? are there flower beds? etc.
• Ripening fruit often attracts wasps.
• Good picking access around trees is often limited, especially if there are other pickers attending.
• Ladders and picking tools are fascinating to kids and they often want to use this equipment.  Be mindful of other pickers so kids aren’t interfering with their ability to pick. And, if someone else brought a ladder or picking equipment, don’t let your kids climb their ladder.

A good bet is to touch base with the fruit owner and other pickers.

You certainly don’t need to clean the whole yard, but it’s a really, really good idea to clean up in and around where you’ll be picking fruit.  It’s actually for your benefit, really! If you rake up debris and old apples that have already fallen, you’ll have a clean surface below for the newly fallen (and perfectly good) apples. Many volunteers clean up and then lay a tarp or sheet down to catch the good apples that inevitably fall during a pick.

It’s also common courtesy to pick up any debris or leaves that may have fallen during a pick.

Place compost material in a bag, box or pile neatly to one side or in a fruit owner provided compost bin. If you have access to another compost bin and can take the compost with you – even better.

Fruit owners should not expect fruit pickers to clean eaves troughs or parts of the yard that are not directly related to the fruit pick.

The goal is to build good relationships and keep everyone happy so that fruit will get posted and picked every year.

To get an email notice in your inbox within 24 hours of when new fruit is added to Fruit Connect here’s what you need to do:

1. Sign up to Fruit Connect.
2. Become a fully subscribed member. That means you have to pay your annual $10.75 membership fee.
3. Ensure you have checked the box on the first page of your account set up to give the system permission to send you email notices.
4. Watch your inbox for notices.

How Many Emails Will I Get?

You’ll only get an email when new fruit is added to the system. The system aggregates new picks and will only send one New Pick notice per day. If more than one fruit was added to the list within that 24 hour period, you’ll see them all in one email. That’s good news for your inbox!

You can expect an email once every other day during the height of apple season in August and early September.

Emails are sent early the following morning – so check your inbox first thing in the morning.

Can I Stop Notifications?

You can turn the notification to receive New Pick notices on or off at anytime. Just log in, go to your account page and uncheck the box for notifications.

Perfect if you’re going on holidays or you’ve picked enough fruit for the season.

Signing up to pick fruit is easy with Fruit Connect. There’s no need to download anything, you just need to have access to the internet – you can use any device.

Here’s the step by step instructions:

Step1

Head to Fruit Connect – http://fruitconnect.www.fruitshare.ca and hit Sign Up

Step 2

You’ll be taken to this screen where you can provide your basic information. 

Step 3

Subscribe for Unlimited Access so you can get details about picks – like the exact address. This is going to cost you $10.75 per year.

Step 4

When you hit the blue Subscribe button, you’ll be taken to the PayPal portal that looks like this. You can pay by credit card or PayPal account. Go ahead and follow all the prompts to become a paid member.

If you prefer not to pay electronically, you can send a cheque made out to the Manitoba Association of Home Economists at the following address.

Manitoba Association of Home Economists
Box 582
Station Main
Winnipeg, MB, R3C 2J3

Step 5

Once you’re all paid, go back to your Account settings and be sure to turn on notifications. Trust me, you’ll want to check this box so you get email notices when new fruit is available for picking. No need to check the website everyday – this notification will keep you in the loop. Just a heads up – when you get the notice, read it right away so you can get in on the action!

You’re officially subscribed, now go ahead and browse the pick listings shown on Fruit Connect.

Step 4

Browse and choose your favorite pick(s).

Click on your preferred fruit and location to get more details. Click the blue ATTEND button.

That’s it – you are a fruit picker! Go get some fruit!

Sorry, we aren’t able to offer transportation to picks. Your best bet is to email fellow pickers to see if you can get a ride with them.  All attendees are listed in the pick details.

Passwords! Ugh, we get it, there’s just so many to keep track of. Luckily, resetting your password on Fruit Connect is easy. Here’s how…

Step 1:

Go to the login screen and hit Forgot Password.

Step 2: 

Enter your email address you used with Fruit Connect. You can try several different emails, if you can’t remember which of your emails you used.

Step 3: 

Check your inbox. The email is sent right away as indicated by the Email sent notice that pops up on the screen.

If you don’t see an email in your inbox, check your spam folder for a NoReply email from [email protected]. Also, check your settings for how quickly your email is set to automatically refresh for the email address you used for Fruit Connect.

Here’s what you should see in your inbox.

Step 4:

Follow the link in the email back to Fruit Connect where you can enter and confirm a new password that is tied specifically to your account.

Step 5

You are back in business. Once you hit reset password, you’ll be taken to your account where you’re ready to pick up where you left off.

There are three things we ask you to do after a harvest…

1. Share the Bounty

Please share one third of the harvested fruit with a community organization that accepts fruit or a friend or neighbour that is unable to pick fruit themselves.

2. Provide Feedback

Let us know how you’re pick went. Login to the pick information on Fruit Connect and answer two simple questions.  Your best guess as to the weight of the fruit is all that’s needed. This helps us to keep track of how much fruit has been harvested throughout the season and where it was shared.

If you want to tell us more or have some great photos of your pick, contact us at [email protected]

3. Enjoy Your Harvest!

We hope you have big plans for your fruit. If you need some inspiration check out some of the fruity recipes and preserves we’ve collected over the years.

Ideally, ask the fruit owner how they would prefer to deal with compost material.

Otherwise, we recommend placing compost material or any unusable fruit (eg. fruit already on the ground when you arrive or damaged fruit) in a bag, box or pile neatly to one side or in a fruit owner provided compost bin. If you have access to another compost bin and can take the compost with you – even better.

Always keep the fruit owner in the loop to let them know your plans.

The day before the pick…

Fruit owners receive an email reminding them of the upcoming pick and providing information about who is attending.

Fruit owners are encouraged to email all attendees to confirm details. Fruit pickers and fruit owners should have clear expectations about the type, quality and ripeness of the fruit, who will pick when (if there are multiple pickers on different dates), who will bring what equipment and how much of the fruit will be picked (will all the fruit be picked, only one hours worth of fruit or only one box worth of fruit?).

The day of the pick…

Arrival at the Pick

Fruit pickers arrive at the pick location at the agreed upon time with all necessary equipment (ladders, gloves, rakes, container, etc.).

As a common courtesy, fruit pickers knock on the door to let the fruit owner know they’ve arrived. If the fruit owner is not home, fruit pickers may enter the property as long as the fruit owner indicated they may pick even if not home on the pick listing.

Fruit pickers assess the yard and the condition of the fruit. If the yard is safe for picking and the fruit is ripe, picking may begin. If fruit pickers have any hesitation about their safety or concerns about the quality of the fruit they may leave the site. They should let the fruit owner know their concerns either while at the site or via a follow-up email.

Picking Begins

Before picking begins, any existing dropped fruit should be removed. Dropped fruit should be placed in a specified compost bin (if made available by the fruit owner), gathered in garbage bags and neatly stored off to the side or taken away to an offsite compost site (if fruit pickers have access to one). Due to possible contamination, it is not recommended that dropped fruit be used by fruit pickers. Dropped fruit should never be donated to community groups or used for cider pressing.

Once the area is cleared, pickers harvest the fruit.  This may take anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours depending on the type and amount of fruit and the number of pickers. Fruit pickers must show care and respect for fruit owners’ properties and fruit plants while at the same time being safe and avoiding unnecessary risks. This may mean that some parts of a fruit tree may not get picked (e.g. if the fruit hangs over a delicate structure or the fruit is higher than can be safely reached with a ladder, etc.).

When finished, pickers clear the area and leave it as neat and tidy as they found it.

Pickers are responsible for splitting and sharing the fruit 3 ways (1/3 each to the fruit owner, the pickers and a community group unless otherwise noted in the confirmation).

After the Pick

Pickers are responsible for returning to the Fruit Connect site to let Fruit Share know how much fruit was harvested and where it was donated.

It’s up to you, the fruit owner and fellow pickers. Email each other and discuss. Email addresses of fruit owners and attendees are towards the bottom of the pick information.

If it’s a light rain, you may choose to go ahead with the pick.

If there this thunder and lightening, please don’t go.

We want you to be safe, sometimes that means rescheduling.

It happens, just be sure to let the fruit owner and other pickers know what’s happening.

If it’s the day of the pick email the attendees and fruit owner. Email addresses are always available at the bottom of the pick information.

If you know you won’t be able to attend a few days before the pick, you can login and Unattend a pick. This will let the fruit owner know what’s happening.

Here are some options for you to consider.

1) Borrow a ladder from a friend.

2) Borrow a fruit picker (some with extension poles) from us. Email [email protected] to arrange pick up and drop off of a picker.

3) Check with your fellow pickers and the fruit owner to see if they have additional equipment for you to borrow.

Remember, picks with tall trees work best if everyone is well equipped.

It’s not unusual for some harvests to only have one person sign up – sometimes there’s just so much fruit available.

If you feel uncomfortable attending a pick on your own, bring a friend for company or let the fruit owner know you can’t attend. We want you to feel safe.

If you’re concerned about how much time a pick may take or how much fruit there is to harvest, email the fruit owner and discuss it with them. You may decide to pick for a limited time or only a certain amount of fruit.

Whatever you choose, please email the fruit owner and let them know what’s going on.

No. You don’t need to pick inedible fruit.

Out of consideration, please let the homeowner know that you aren’t able to pick their fruit and why.

If it is under-ripe suggest a future date when you can go back to pick the fruit.

Need help determining if it is ready? Click here to learn more about judging ripeness of different fruits.

A flexible pick is selected by fruit owners when they want to give fruit pickers a 1-7 day period to pick fruit rather than setting one specific date and time.

In order for flexible picks to work, fruit pickers and fruit owner must email everyone involved to confirm who’s picking when, how much and how fruit gets shared. For example Picker 1 picks half the apple tree on Tuesday at 10 am, Picker 2 picks the other half on Wednesday at 7 pm. The fruit owner and both pickers have agreed that each picker will leave a bag of apples for the fruit owner and share 1/3 of their take home apples with a community group of their choice.

While it does require more coordination and communication by everyone involved, we hope that greater flexibility means more fruit gets rescued.

Here’s what fruit owners see when they create a flexible pick.

Here’s what a flexible pick looks like in the pick list.

Unless the fruit owner has specifically indicated they have picking equipment for you to use, you are expected to bring everything you need to pick the fruit safely and effectively.

For a fruit tree you’ll need:

• 1 ladder or fruit picker per volunteer
• 1-2 tarps (These are great for catching any fruit that will accidentally drop while you’re picking.)
• Boxes or bags for any compost or waste material
• Buckets, bags or containers for fruit, including some for fruit you’ll share with a community group
• 1 rake for clean up
• Gloves if you like ’em

For a rhubarb or grapes you’ll need:

• 1 sharp knife, scissors or garden snips per volunteer
• Pails/boxes for the compost and the fruit

It’s up to you to arrive with the proper picking equipment. Contact friends, family or other pickers attending the pick to make arrangements for picking equipment and transporting it.

You bet! Fruit rescuing is happening formally and informally across the globe. Here’s a map showing some of the groups we know about in Canada.

To get the most current listing of the groups we know about with links to each one read Fruit Rescuing Across Canada.

If you’re interested in starting a fruit rescuing group or using Fruit Connect read How to Start a Fruit Rescuing Group and Using Fruit Connect in Your Community. Fruit Connect can be adapted to work in your community – let’s talk.

Want to know more? Contact us at [email protected].

You bet.

We’re super proud of the Fruit Connect app and the fact that it has been developed and maintained by a leading web development company. Tactica Interactive knows app development and after working with us and other fruit rescuing groups for a couple of years, they know fruit rescuing!

You can work with Tactica to set up Fruit Connect as is in your community or you can ask them to tweak it to your customized specifications.

Yes, there are fees involved – but you won’t have to start from scratch and you will benefit from having someone who knows their stuff and will be there for ongoing maintenance. Did you know that computer systems keep changing!? Yeah, well, having someone there to keep a system like Fruit Connect current is HUGE!

If you’re interested in starting a fruit rescuing group or using Fruit Connect read How to Start a Fruit Rescuing Group and Using Fruit Connect in Your Community.

For more information contact us at [email protected].

Yes. Fruit Share is a volunteer group of the Manitoba Association of Home Economists (MAHE).

Through MAHE, Fruit Share is covered by General Liability Insurance and Directors and Officers Liability Insurance.

The general liability extends to all subscribed fruit pickers and covers them from property damage or bodily harm. It does not, however, cover the fruit owner’s property. Fruit owners are covered by their general home insurance.

Easy peasy – email us at [email protected]. We’d love to add you to the list.

Remember, some of the fruit harvested may be a little too tart for eating fresh, it often requires some processing.

Fruit Connect is an online tool that connects people with too much fruit with people who want to pick fruit.

Both fruit owners and fruit pickers subscribe to Fruit Connect for an annual fee of $10.75.  All paid subscribers may post as many fruit picks or attend as many picks as they’d like. Anyone can become a subscriber – they do not need to have a fruit tree.

Fruit owners create a Pick to promote their fruit by describing what fruit they have available for picking, where the fruit is located and when the fruit is available for picking.  They can set a specific date and time for a pick or they can create a Flexible Pick which allows fruit pickers to contact them to arrange a convenient picking time within a certain time frame.

Fruit pickers can browse all the fruit that is available for picking. They can sort the list of available fruit by fruit type, neighbourhood or date. They can select any of the listings to get more details about a pick. Once they have found a suitable pick, they sign up to attend a pick.

Fruit owners and fruit pickers communicate via email to finalize and confirm pick details.

Once a harvest is done, pickers and fruit owners provide feedback to let Fruit Share know how much fruit was picked and with whom it was shared.

We encourage sharing fruit three ways:
1/3 stays with the fruit owner
1/3 is split between all fruit pickers
1/3 is shared with a community group or someone who isn’t able to pick on their own

Fruit owners indicate if they wish to keep any of the fruit on the pick information.

If this line does not appear in the fruit sharing section, the fruit is split between fruit pickers and community groups. A listing of community groups in Winnipeg that accept fruit can be accessed via a button on the app or here.

If the quality or quantity of the fruit makes it difficult to share with a third party (eg. 3 lbs of rhubarb or overripe crab apples), we encourage fruit pickers to find other opportunities or ways to share their bounty. It may be sharing rhubarb muffins with a senior, crab apple jelly at a community supper, volunteering at an event, or sharing more of another harvest.

We know the Fruit Share community values the sharing model and that users will do their best to share the bounty.

We’ve been rescuing and sharing fruit since 2010.

From 2010 to 2016 we harvested over 63,000 pounds or 28,500 kilograms of fruit!

That’s a lot of fruit that otherwise would have ended up in the dump.

You bet. We love working with groups to harvest fruit.  We can’t provide transportation, but we can certainly work with you to find suitable picks.

The best bet is to email us at [email protected] during the harvest season to see what we can work out.

Fruit pickers and fruit owners both pay an annual fee of $10.75.

Subscriptions expire on December 31 of each year. There are no pro-rated fees.

Fees are paid online via Paypal or credit card. Special arrangements can also be made at [email protected] to pay via cheque.

If you require financial assistance we are happy to help out – please contact us at [email protected] and we’ll get you set up.

Fees help pay for administrative fees, online fees and general liability insurance. Fruit Share volunteers also host a variety of fundraising efforts to help pay for general operating costs including a part-time casual Coordinator during the summer season.

Check out the map of organizations in Winnipeg that accept fruit donations.

Contact them for more details about what kind of fruit they accept, when and how to drop off fruit.