Do you love to eat fruit? Do you really love those trees that magically make fruit every year? Do you want to help the public fruit trees near you make more and better fruit for everyone to enjoy?
Become an Orchard Steward! City Fruit will teach you all you need to know about caring for our public fruit trees, young and old, large and small, from plums, cherries, and persimmons to apples, pears and quince.
Seattle’s public orchards are important community resources. Not only do fruit trees benefit the local ecosystem and urban canopy, but also play an important role in supplying fresh produce to local food programs.
City Fruit’s Orchard Steward program empowers you to join or lead orchard activities in your neighborhood. Orchard Stewards may work alone, in a team with other volunteers or stewards, or may lead volunteer groups.
Typical Orchard Steward responsibilities may include:
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Pruning fruit trees
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Pest prevention (netting trees or tree branches or applying footies and bags to apples to prevent pests)
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Removing weeds to keep the orchard floor clean
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Spreading wood chip mulch
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Watering young fruit trees on a weekly basis in summer months
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Recruiting volunteers in your neighborhood to help with tree care
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Leading work parties in a public orchard
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Giving tours of your orchard to local community groups
Orchard stewards will work throughout the year in Seattle in an assigned public orchard. Depending on availability, stewards will work with City Fruit staff and volunteers to coordinate their schedules to visit the orchard on a regular basis and prioritize the most pressing maintenance needs for that season.
Orchard stewards should be able to communicate regularly with City Fruit staff. Orchard Stewards should expect to spend 20 hours throughout the year on tree care, must be enthusiastic about City Fruit’s mission, have consistent access to their assigned orchard and be 18+.
City Fruit will provide stewards with three free trainings that include fruit tree pruning, organic pest prevention, and fruit tree biology. We are in the process of organizing quarterly opportunities for stewards to meet and learn from each other and visit other orchards.
Interested in become a Orchard Steward? Read the job description below and contact barb@cityfruit.org to learn more.
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POSITION:
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City Fruit Orchard Steward Volunteer
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POSITION DESCRIPTION:
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City Fruit Orchard Stewards will assist with fruit tree maintenance tasks in an orchard on public land, in order to keep the trees in good health and put fruit to it’s best and fullest use.
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SPECIFIC DUTIES:
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Participate in orchard management tasks as directed by Orchard Steward Lead and Orchard Manager
Complete volunteer sign-in sheets as requested
Total time commitment: at least 10 hours during calendar year
Help recruit new orchard stewards
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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
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Attend Orchard Steward training within 2 years of first volunteer shift
Maintain a positive working relationship with staff, volunteers, donors, and community supporters
Work under physically-demanding conditions, including cold and wet weather
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DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
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Enthusiasm about fruit trees and fresh fruit
Contact: Barb Burrill Barb@cityfruit.org
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