Share and Celebrate the Bounty Click Here for a PDF of Share and Celebrate the Bounty A productive lemon tree can yield 500 pounds of fruit in one season, a pomegranate 300 pounds and a grapefruit more than 1,000 pounds. Refrigerating, juicing, milling, grinding, zesting, canning, drying, dehydrating and other food preservation processes help you enjoy and feast on the harvest long after it is picked. There will often be more than enough food to share with family, friends and your community. Community relationships are strengthened by planting, harvesting and enjoying the bounty of edible trees together. Gleaning groups, food banks, churches and other community organizations can help you harvest your trees and distribute the nutritious produce to the benefit of many people. Cultural, historical and familial connections to edible trees bring history and people’s stories alive for children, elders and everyone in between, making trees the inspiration for celebrations at blossom time, harvest time and eating time. Native trees are important to many desert creatures, so share the bounty with native animals by lightly harvesting native trees in wild habitats and be sure you know who owns the property and have permission to harvest. As you grow trees at your own site and expand into new sites, remember the five core values: • Carefully select appropriate trees • Create resilient planting sites • Share the bounty • Work as a community to learn about, grow, harvest and celebrate edible trees • Prepare for the stewardship of trees that have long lives |
Community calamondin lime harvest.
Musician adds to the festivities of a quince harvest celebration. |
Community working together at harvest.
Community pear harvest. |
CAUTION: Never eat anything that is not properly identified. It is your responsibility to ensure that all fruits, nuts, seeds, pods and other edible products of trees and shrubs are correctly identified and safe to eat before eating them or serving them to others.
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LEAF is under the fiduciary stewardship of the Arizona Community Tree Council, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
This website and other LEAF Network products shown here was prepared under the Diverse Urban Forest grant, WCG 14-501, administered by the Arizona Community Tree Council. Funds for this project were provided by the Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program administered through Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management – Urban and Community Forestry Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service. In accordance with Federal law and USDA policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability (Not all prohibited basis applies to all programs). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.