Montreal fruit picking - can I do this for free?

August 23, 2010 4:52 PM

I want to pick fruit and vegetables - for free or very cheaply - in Montreal. Is there any organization that exists here that is similar to Toronto's Not Far From the Tree?

I'm hoping to find some sort of group or charity or something that works like this:

Someone with a fruit tree calls the group saying "I have a fruit tree that needs picking";
The group goes and picks the fruit;
A third of the harvest goes to the owner, a third to the picker(s) and a third to charity;
Everybody wins.

Does this exist in Montreal? Or, um, do you live here and have a tree you need picked? Thank you!

posted by andreapandrea to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Surprise! It's me! Do you think that Eco-quartier might know about something like that? You know, the folks who do the community gardens? Good luck!
posted by misterhoneybee at 5:14 PM on August 23, 2010

Sorry, your link to Not Far From the Tree should have gone to here.

You're well ahead of Toronto when it comes to bagels and bike paths, so I hope you have a similar initiative there. Good luck!
posted by maudlin at 5:23 PM on August 23, 2010

Don't forget, Montreal is significantly colder than Toronto and we have fewer orchards and fruit trees here, except for apples. There are occasional apple trees in back yards but likely not enough to make for the kind of system you describe.

If you want to go apple-picking and have a car you can drive out towards Rougemont and look out for signs, but it sounds like that isn't quite what you mean. Maybe try this question on the Montreal livejournal community if you can, though.
posted by zadcat at 6:12 PM on August 23, 2010

Sorry this isn't exactly related to Montreal, but I was delighted to find there is an organization in Edmonton that does exactly this.

There are tons of fruit trees that will do well in a colder climate, particularly sour cherries. So good!
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 6:43 PM on August 23, 2010

To find unwanted fruit you can try posting a craigslist ad in the "items wanted" section. We put one up this year (in a city that's not especially active on craigslist) and got peaches and pears out of it. The owners of both were happy to get rid of them and not have to clean up rotting fruit from their yards.
posted by waterlily at 6:54 PM on August 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think waterlily's CL idea is great, and if it works for you, maybe you can see if you can start your own gleaning group in Montreal over the winter. I ran a search for urban fruit gleaning in Google and found several cities that had something going, but nothing for Mintreal.
posted by maudlin at 6:59 PM on August 23, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks everyone for your amazing ideas! I will definitely craigslist post - never thought of that. Lazy little me just wanted something extra specially easy, where someone else does the coordination and lugging of ladders, and i just show up and pick fruit. But, okay. Thanks all!
posted by andreapandrea at 7:18 PM on August 23, 2010

CSA's are almost always happy to have you work as a volunteer, though the sharing scenario you envision won't be quite as generous. Googling for "Montreal CSA," I came up with 3-4 possibilities.
Truth is, food spoils fast. Every place - big and small - that I've ever picked veggies for has sent me home with a bag of produce (sometimes bunged-up, but certainly usable).
posted by Gilbert at 8:49 PM on August 23, 2010

There are tons of fruit trees that will do well in a colder climate, particularly sour cherries.

That's as may be, but Montreal doesn't have many fruit trees whether that's true or not.
posted by zadcat at 4:28 AM on August 24, 2010