Picking Guidelines
While we would love to pick every tree each season, not all trees are good fits for our project.
What will we pick?
- Apple
- Cherry
- Crabapple (golf ball size or larger)
- Fig
- Grape
- Kiwi
- Peach
- Pear
- Plum (other than cherry plums)
- Quince
What won’t we pick? Why not?
- Cherry plums
- Little edible value – planted mostly for their flowers
- Fruit is cherry-sized with very soft flesh, bitter skins, and no shelf life
- We do pick other small plums that are good for fresh eating
- Small crabapples
- Planted for their flowers
- Fruit is cherry-sized or smaller, and very hard
- We do pick larger crabapples (golf ball size or larger)
- Berries (except on a large scale e.g. blueberry farms)
- Nuts
Some other considerations
Our tallest ladders are 10’. We also have pole pickers that sometimes allow us to reach higher, but they have several limitations. For this reason, our ideal trees carry most of their fruit within about 15’ off the ground.
We cannot safely set up our orchard ladders on concrete or other hard surfaces, so if your tree overhangs such a surface, we’ll only be able to pick fruit that is reachable from the ground. If your tree is over level concrete and you offer us a safe stepladder, volunteers may use it at their discretion.
Steep slopes and nearby obstacles can also make picking more difficult, so be sure to include a photo of the area under the tree with your pick request!
Unsure about your tree?
If you’re not sure whether or not your tree falls within these guidelines, please email us with photos of your tree and fruit at [email protected]