Fruit Trees for Resilient Food Systems

COVID has made it clear that local, resilient food systems are more important than ever. Communities should be able to grow, access and afford healthy food in their communities. We’re thrilled to see the boom in urban gardening, and want to offer fruit trees to help communities establish their resilient food systems. A well cared for fruit tree can be an amazing asset to the community, feeding multiple families for many years to come.

Thanks to generous support from The Chawkers Foundation, we will be giving away 20 free fruit trees to those interested in caring for a tree, and eventually sharing the bounty with the wider community. We hope to help you pick and share it in a few years!

We have 20 trees to give away – 7 plums, 7 cherries, and 6 pears.

We’re anticipating demand being quite high, so winners will be selected via raffle. We hope to eventually lead more fruit tree giveaways and planting workshops in the future once it is safer to do so and we can rally the help of our amazing volunteers. If you miss out on this one don’t worry – it won’t be the last!

If you’re a grower who has the space and time to take on growing and caring for a fruit tree, we’d love for you to register. Please keep in mind that a fruit tree does require a significant amount of ongoing care.

Raffle Rules

Adopting a fruit tree is a bit like adopting a pet! It needs attention, love, and is a long-term commitment. A well cared for fruit tree is a valuable asset to the community, but a neglected tree can spread disease and decimate other fruit trees in your neighbourhood. Not Far From The Tree is committed to maintaining the long-term health of Toronto’s urban orchard. We ask that you only register for a free fruit tree if you’re able to commit to the following:

• Ensure your fruit tree receives 6-8 hours of sunlight and has enough space to grow
• Provide at least 4 hours of care during each month of the growing season (every year!)
• Prune your tree every year
• Monitor your tree for pests and disease every year, and provide treatments if necessary

We also ask that winners of the raffle attend a free webinar on how to plant and care for your fruit tree on Thursday May 7th at 7pm. The workshop will be hosted by Susan Poziner of Orchard People, and walk you through how to properly plant your tree. Raffle winners will also recieve a copy of Susan Poziner’s book “Growing Urban Orchards”.

Delivery Details

Fruit trees will be delivered via contactless delivery on Saturday May 16th between 9am and 6pm. Trees will be bareroot, and approximately 3ft tall. Trees must be planted immediately once received, so please be ready to plant them that day. Please also make sure you are located in our delivery area before entering. Due to reduced capacity at this time we are restricted to a limited delivery zone.

All sounds good? Great! Please enter via the following form: