Register a Tree
Tree Registrants play an integral role in allowing us to access fruit and build relationships with trees all over Toronto!
If you have a fruit tree that produces more than you can use, we can send over a team of fruit pickers to harvest your tree, and split the harvest three ways – ⅓ is offered to you, ⅓ is shared amongst the volunteers, and ⅓ is delivered to a social service agency in your community*.
By sharing your bounty with NFFTT, you make an impact directly in your community. Your yard becomes a hotbed for community connection, bringing people from all walks of life together to enjoy the bounty! Together, these agencies feed over thousands of people monthly and incorporate your fruit into meals for their clients.
To grow and sustain Toronto’s fruit harvest, we ask Tree Registrants to become a member and contribute a minimum of $40 per harvest to support the costs of harvesting, and allow for program growth.
To begin, sign up on our online portal and provide us with some basic information about your fruit tree(s).
Tree Registrant Guide
Step 1: Prior to requesting a Pick, you
- have a relationship with a fruit tree – as a property owner, resident, or tenant with landlord permission
- check to make sure you’re within our operating boundaries: south of Eglinton, east of Jane, west of Victoria Park, and north of the waterfront; as well, in Etobicoke (Royal York, The Gardiner and Dundas) and Scarborough (Birchmount, St. Clair East, to the Bluffs)
- have registered your tree in our Portal
Step 2: Request a Pick*
- keep an eye on your fruit tree to watch for ripening signs. About 2-3 weeks before your fruit is ripe, request a Pick through the Portal
- an available Pick Leader will get in touch to gather more information and schedule a Pick!
Step 3: After your Pick has been scheduled, you
- keep in touch with your Pick Leader for any fruit ripening updates, alerting them to any changes needed, including cancellations
- clean up the area surrounding the fruit tree: watch for any wasp nests, ensure all animal waste is removed, all hazards are cleared (ie. children’s toys, broken furniture)
- secure access to a safe ladder (borrowing from a neighbor is great), acknowledging that without a ladder, NFFTT may only be able to pick so much
- put out a green bin or yard waste bag for any fallen fruit
- provide a bowl or bag for your share of the bounty
Step 4: During a scheduled Pick, you
- can be home…or not! NFFTT takes care to leave your tree and surrounding area as we find it
- know that the small team will pick anywhere from 1-3 hours (normally, 2 hours), depending on the amount of fruit, the weather, and the size of the team
Step 5: When the Pick is complete, you
- get to enjoy your share of the fruit!
- receive an automatic “Post-Pick” email, submitted by the Pick Leader, including how many lbs of fruit were picked and where they were donated
- will be charged the $40 membership fee after a successful Pick – if we are unable to pick*, you won’t be charged
- keep in touch with us if your fruit has a second wave of ripeness (we’re looking at you, mulberries) and need to request another Pick
* please note…
While we do the best we can to pick all the fruit we can in Toronto’s urban orchard, we are also a small organization whose harvests are conducted by community volunteers, and whose work is dictated by the variabilities and unpredictability of nature! While we can’t guarantee or promise anything, we appreciate you sharing your trees with us, and do everything within our limits to be able to pick your fruit.
We may not be able to pick your fruit if…
- It’s a fruit we cannot pick such as gingko, or mouldy/overripe fruit
- Your fruit tree is unhealthy, such as fruits with an abundance of codling moth damage, or visible frass; or any trees with fire blight
- We aren’t tall or long enough to reach the remaining fruit in your tree
- There are too many hazards surrounding your tree as we expect Tree Registrants to have a reasonably clean and safe space for our volunteer teams to operate in, and prior to a Pick, that you clean up the area surrounding the fruit tree: watch for any wasp nests, ensure all animal waste is removed, and clear hazards (ie. children’s toys, broken furniture)
- The weather affects the pick and compromises the safety of our volunteers. This includes heavy rain, heavy wind, lightning, heat, and air quality