As the winter chill was settling in, the persimmon harvest was ready! November 21, Return Serve helped the Portland Fruit Tree Project (PFTP) on one of their many harvest parties. PFTP works with volunteers and owners of fruit trees to make sure our urban fruit harvest doesn't go to waste. Trees get registered, and volunteers come, pick, sort and go! I absolutely saw the resemblance between our group and a giant locust swarm, but the trees were still healthy when we left, and the owners seemed more than happy to have us. Half of what is picked at the harvests goes to the Oregon Food Bank and half goes home with the volunteers. Many of the people we were working with are avid food preservationists and they were very, very excited about their plans to turn our persimmons into muffins, cookies, bread and chutney.
This was among the last harvest parties of the year, but we'll catch up with PFTP earlier in the growing season from now on!
