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Owen is now serving as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator VISTA with PFTP. The nonprofit seeks to expand its volunteer base in order to increase the amount of fruit that it donates to local food pantries. Owen will be present at many of PFTP’s work parties, tabling events, and more as he works to recruit new volunteers and retain those who join volunteer parties.

Portland Fruit Tree Project (PFTP) is a gleaning organization dedicated to harvesting fruit that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to food pantries in the Portland area. With an organic, no-spray method to fruit tree care one of the biggest challenges to getting a quality harvest that PFTP faces is pest and disease control. Unfortunately, many of the people whose trees PFTP harvests from lack the tools, knowledge, or time to take an integrated approach to pest management. In an effort to increase their organization’s capacity to care for local fruit trees and donate higher quality fruit, PFTP launched a new fruit tree thinning program for local homeowners. 

Fruit tree thinning is the process of removing excess fruit from a tree to provide better sunlight, airflow, and spacing for the remaining fruit. Thinning fruit reduces pest and disease pressure, supports better tree health, and increases fruit quality. This practice is more important than ever in the mild, rainy climate of the Pacific Northwest where pests and disease are common issues that lead to fruit dropping on the ground or being thrown out. 

This spring, PFTP began reaching out to tree owners about thinning their trees. Owen, PFTP’s Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator VISTA, trained volunteers on how to thin and helped coordinate volunteer thinning groups at houses all over the city. During the months of May and June PFTP volunteers thinned fruit at over 30 houses, most of which are planning to donate their fruit once it’s ripe. While the resulting impact on overall fruit quality won’t be seen until later this year, PFTP hopes that this thinning program will help the organization donate more fruit to food pantries, in addition to building relationships with tree owners and educating volunteers. While thinning may decrease the overall fruit yield, it should also decrease the amount of diseased or wormy fruit which cannot be donated due to its low quality. After requesting feedback from homeowners and volunteers, PFTP is excited to continue to improve this program in future years with its AmeriCorps VISTA partnership.