In 2014, City Fruit harvested over 28,000 pounds of fresh, organic fruit from residential and public trees in Seattle. Of that total, nearly 5,000 pounds came from Wallingford fruit trees. This was the first year City Fruit has harvested in Wallingford. The fruit was donated to food banks, meal programs, and homeless shelters, including FamilyWorks Food Bank, the University District Food Bank, and the Wallingford Community Senior Center.
From March through October 2014, over 250 volunteers with City Fruit’s orchard steward program spent 530 hours taking care of fruit trees at Meridian Playground and the Burke-Gilman Trail.
The harvest season may be finished, but now it’s prime time to plant fruit trees. On Saturday, December 6, starting at 10 AM, Wallingford will host City Fruit’s first “Move-A-Tree, Plant-A-Tree” event. City Fruit staff and volunteers will plant four or more fruit trees (pear, plum, apple) that are being moved from their current less than ideal locations.
The destination? A sunny greenspace in lower Wallingford, between the Burke-Gilman Trail and N. Northlake Way, near Sunnyside Avenue North. A new public orchard has been established there by City Fruit volunteer orchard stewards.
For the event December 6 we’re looking for folks who like to dig! You will dig up two trees in Wallingford and the destination holes. We also
need a volunteer with a pickup truck of any size to haul the trees a few blocks to haul them to the planting site.
If you want to join the fun, sign up using the links below. Light duty jobs are also available, such as spreading wood chip mulch, digging weeds, and moving small amounts of gravel. Or – maybe you want to be everyone’s favorite volunteer and bring cookies!
Work gloves, tools, hot drinks and snacks will be provided. Look for the blue canopy on N. Northlake Way.
As a bonus for joining us in the colder weather and for our first Plant-a-Thon, the first 10 people to sign up will receive a long-sleeved City Fruit t-shirt.