Save Seattle’s apples! City Fruit will show you how to help

April 12, 2015 9:39 pm
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 |   Gardening | How to help | West Seattle news

(Photo courtesy City Fruit)
Got an apple tree? More than one, maybe? Don’t let its fruit go to waste! City Fruit, which harvested almost 14 tons of homegrown fruit last year, is hoping its new “Save Seattle’s Apples” campaign will keep even more from going to waste. Here’s what City Fruit announced this week – and scroll ahead to find out about the West Seattle event that’ll be part of it:

City Fruit is excited to announce the launch of the organization’s first ever Spring 2015 Save Seattle’s Apples Campaign. In partnership with Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Recology, Greater Good Granola, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, this three-month pest prevention campaign will build awareness about Seattle’s urban canopy, the proper care and management of apple trees, and provide opportunities for the public to protect apples. Additionally, the project aims to reduce waste that unnecessarily ends up in the compost bin.

During 2014, City Fruit harvested nearly 28,000 pounds of fresh, edible fruit and donated the majority to Seattle’s emergency food system. During the same harvest season, the organization composted over 12,000 pounds of rotten fruit that had fallen to the ground due to insects, poor tree management, or neglect. Through education, outreach, and direct hands-on assistance to tree owners in protecting their fruit, City Fruit hopes to cut the number of pounds of composted fruit in half in 2015, adding 6,000 pounds of fruit to the emergency food system and feeding an additional estimated 20,000 families.

“Apple trees are a vibrant part of Seattle’s history, and a valuable resource. Coming together as an entire community in the care of our apple trees can have an enormous impact on our local food system and make a difference to communities experiencing food insecurity,” said Morgan Larsen, City Fruit’s board president.

“Food waste makes up one third of Seattle’s residential garbage,” said Veronica Fincher, Waste Prevention Program Manager at Seattle Public Utilities. “We’re excited to be part of a project that helps prevent food from becoming waste– especially since food is no longer allowed in the garbage.”

From April through June, City Fruit will provide free pest barriers to Seattle tree owners, and will host a series of outreach events in five Seattle neighborhoods focused on covering trees to prevent pests in orchards as well as on private property. The Save Seattle’s Apples Kick-Off event will take place on Sunday, April 19th at Linden Orchard (N 67th St.) from 12 – 3 PM, and will feature opportunities for community members to participate in covering apple trees, win prizes, and pledge to reduce waste.

Learn more about the Save Seattle’s Apples campaign and the Linden Orchard Kick-Off event on the City Fruit website: www.cityfruit.org.

While the kickoff next weekend is in North Seattle, when we contacted City Fruit to find out more about all this, we found out they’re recruiting volunteers for a neighborhood pest-prevention event here in West Seattle on Saturday, May 16th, 10 am-1 pm. Get the details here – and volunteer by signing up here.

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