Save Money on Groceries with Free Local Fruit

Save Money on Groceries with Free Local Fruit
Harvesting fruit from abandoned fruit trees can fill your pantry for free.
By Marye Audet
Lancaster, TX, USA | Fri Sep 25 15:30:00 GMT 2009

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Buy Local | Fruit | Get Recession-Ready | Local Food | Penny Pinching

Free fruit is always an easy way to save money on groceries. Not everyone has an orchard, especially in urban areas but you can almost always find a fruit tree or two on any street in any town. Much of the fruit from these trees just rots on the branches or on the ground. People just don't have time to deal with homegrown fruit anymore and so many of your neighbors may be leaving the fruit to the bees.

Harvesting Abandoned Fruit for Free

In my immediate area there are several kinds of trees from apple to wild plum. The wild plums tend to be growing along the creek beds and hedgerows. Usually these are areas where you can feel free to forage unless you are trespassing on someone's property.

Pear, peach, and apple trees are abundant in people's yards. Of course you can't just hop their fence and start picking so here are some tips for harvesting free fruit.

People's Yards or Business Locations

If the tree is in someone's yard the best thing to do is to keep an eye on it for signs that they are harvesting. If they aren't there will be signs of rotting fruit around the base of the tree. The best thing to do is to go up to the door, or approach them when they are working outside and ask if they need help in harvesting the fruit.

That will usually spark a lively conversation and you can offer to harvest, and give them part of the harvested fruit. Not only is it easy, but you may have made a new friend. Most of the time people are thrilled to get rid of the fruit that encourages vermin and bees in the suburbs.

Abandoned Property

It gets a little trickier when the property has been abandoned. If it has a real estate sign out front you can contact the real estate office and ask for permission to harvest. Be sure to get the name of the person you are speaking with in case someone questions you.

If the property has long been abandoned and there is no contact number it will probably be fine if you harvest the fruit. Just be ready to leave if someone asks you to.

City Owned Property

Sometimes trees will be on property that is owned by the city such as roadsides, city parks, and nature areas. It is best to contact the city for permission in this case. Usually you will be given the go ahead; they really don't care about the fruit. Get the name of the person who gave you permission in case there is any question.

Be Neighborly

Always leave the area cleaner than you found it. Take home the rotting fruit that you can't use and put it on your compost. It's also a nice gesture to bring the person you spoke with a jar of your homemade plum jelly, or applesauce that you made from the fruit you collected.

There is still a lot of wild food to forage even if you live in the city. You just need to think outside the grocery store mentality and keep your eyes open for possibilities. Saving money on grocery shopping can allow you to pay off a bill or stash a little extra cash for a rainy day. Urban foraging is a great way to make it happen.

Simple Urban Foraging Rules

This urban foraging video from G-Word has some great ideas but a few dangers that I would like to point out:

You should never pick anything from someone else's yard without permission. It's asking for trouble.

The same rule applies for a business. Don't take anything without asking.

Roadside weeds may well be edible but they are steeped in automobile exhaust. Not very appetizing or organic.

Never eat something, especially in an urban setting, without washing it first. Even if it hasn't been hit with auto exhaust dog pee is not very appetizing.

Be sure to invest in a good guide to foraging so that you don't mix up something edible with something poisonous.

Foraging for wild and abandoned foods is a good way to save money but be safe and neighborly in the process.

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(I live across the street from a middle school and have 3 large mango trees in my front yard. The kids come into my yard and try to knock the fruits down with stones, poles, etc. when it comes into season. I love mangos myself and would like to harvest the mangos myself, but I admire the boys initiative and allow them to take 2 mangos each, per day. My concern is if they get hurt throwing the stones, etc. Nobody has been hurt yet, but there has been a few close calls.)