Are there thriving fruit trees in your yard, producing more fruit than you would ever need? Do you have a highly productive garden plot, growing more than you can eat? The Shared Harvest Program run by the Delta Food Coalition can help.
Local homeowners and businesses with healthy unsprayed fruit trees and garden plots can register their yards with the Shared Harvest program based at the Earthwise Society in Boundary Bay. A team of experienced volunteers will come to assess the tree or garden plot, pick fruit and vegetables and distribute the produce.
It’s called the Shared Harvest program because the fresh produce is divided between homeowners, volunteer harvesters, Earthwise Society and partnering social agencies.
The goal of the program is to increase food security and lower food waste in Delta, as well as to enhance community connections. Earthwise distributes the produce to those in-need through many different local partner agencies, including the Boys & Girls Club, Canadian Mental Health, Fraser Health, the food bank, local libraries, local churches and more.
If you would like to register your yard, visit http://bit.ly/RegisterYard or call program coordinator Corinne Côté at 604-946-9828. If you are interested in volunteering, visit http://bit.ly/EarthwiseVolunteer or call Côté.
Earthwise Society is the lead agency for the Delta Food Coalition, which runs three main programs to help ensure food security in Delta: the Shared Harvest program, the Family Harvest Box program and Seniors Pocket Markets. These programs are supported by United Way of the Lower Mainland.
Earthwise Society operates a public educational garden in Boundary Bay. Come by seven days a week to enjoy the blooms and the many varieties of birds, bunnies and bees. The Earthwise Farm Store is open Wednesdays from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with limited products available on a drop-in basis on Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
