Frequently Asked Questions
Volunteers
If you’ve registered to volunteer in the past you’re still on the list! No need to re-register through our website. But, if you want to register for new wards, you have the option to register again and check off more locations!
In any given year, we have dozens of active Neighborhood Leaders that volunteer their time to plan and host harvest events. Each leader reviews the list of potential trees and reaches out to homeowners to schedule a pick when the fruit is ready. If you have signed up as a volunteer, you will receive emails when there are harvests happening in your chosen wards, but we can’t guarantee when that will be. We have more than 500 trees registered, so if you’d like to help us run more harvest events, think about becoming a Neighbourhood Leader!
The number of harvest events fluctuates slightly every year, but to give you an idea, in 2023 we had 80 harvest events and rescued more than 17,000 pounds of fruit. We’ll all be doing our very best to rescue all the fruit we can this year and contribute meaningfully to our food system.
Tree Owners
If you’ve registered your tree in the past, you’re still on our list! No need to re-register through our website. When your fruit is about 2 weeks away from being ripe, you can help us out by completing this form: Almost Ready to Harvest. It’s particularly good to get a nudge through this form if your tree is having a really great fruit year!
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to harvest your tree – but you are on the list. It is up to each Neighbourhood Leader to review the list of potential trees, register as the designated leader for available trees, and then to make the best use of the time they have. We have more than 600 trees registered, and last year we held 80 harvest events, rescuing more than 17,000 pounds of fruit.
Yes, absolutely, always! We will never show up unannounced! If a Neighbourhood Leader is able to harvest your tree, they will reach out and arrange a mutually convenient time for the event to occur.
Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to communicate with you in advance if we will not be able to harvest your tree. If you have a particular question, you can reach out to hiddenharvest@envirocentre.ca and we will do our best to respond in a timely fashion.
Probably not. We love the potential of this local, healthy protein, but right now we do not have the infrastructure or capacity to hull, clean, dry, and crack the nuts. Sadly, neither do food agencies, and our Neighbourhood Leaders max out their nut storage space rather quickly. Every year we do a few walnut harvests as educational opportunities for our volunteers. It is still helpful to register your tree, as we learn more about just how much is out there and under-utilized, and some Neighbourhood Leaders will be inspired to coordinate a harvest effort. We dream of the day that a few engineers are inspired to take up the reins of establishing a community hulling and cracking operation! If you’re keen on running nut hulling or cracking workshops, or coordinating volunteer efforts, please do let us know.
More questions? Contact Us