Safety Considerations for Fruit Owners
Have a look at your fruit tree or bush before registering it for volunteer pickers.
Be sure you are inviting volunteers to a space that seems appropriate and safe. Our pickers are volunteers from the community and not professional pickers or arborists.
Please consider:
- Are there wasps or bees swarming near or in the bush/tree?
- Are there weak or broken branches?
- Are there any power lines intersecting the branches?
- Are there a lot of uneven ground, rough surfaces?
- Do you have a large or defensive dog?
- Is there sufficient access at the base of the tree for either volunteers to gather to pick or for a ladder to reach the tree?
- Are there plants, treasured garden plots or drain spouts under the base of the tree/bush that may be stepped on or tripped on by volunteers?
If you have any concerns about potential hazards, but aren’t sure, call our Fruit Share coordinator. Or when registering please identify your concerns in the comment box so our volunteers can assess the risk prior to arriving.
Remember, just because you asked for our help doesn’t mean you can’t ask questions. If you check in on pickers and see anything you are not comfortable with (i.e. volunteers shaking the tree, or climbing on your garage roof to reach more fruit) please speak up and ask them to stop!
We promise to do our best
We are very pleased that you have entrusted us to help pick and share your fruit. Thank you.
We are a group of volunteers that are doing our best. Sometimes we may not be able to pick all your fruit as hoped.
If there is fruit that is too high up or hanging in a dangerous location (i.e. above a garage roof or into a laneway) our volunteer pickers may NOT be able to pick it safely. Thank you for your understanding.