Darebin Fruit Squad
It happens to all of us. You can only eat so many peaches and apricots. The rest ends up on the ground.
Instead of leaving it to rot, give it the Darebin Fruit Squad. We know people who will enjoy it.
The Fruit Squad is our group of trained volunteers who collect leftover fruit from Darebin back yards. These otherwise wasted resources go to locals who are experiencing food insecurity. They become a fresh and nutritious addition to the food parcels we share.
We can come to your place and pick the fruit, leaving some for you. Or if you leave the fruit in a box by the front door, we will organise for someone to pick it up.
You might not be happy on a ladder and cannot get up to those hard-to-reach branches. Maybe you don’t have time to pick your fruit before the birds get it. If you are not able to pick all the fruit on your tree, the Fruit Squad will lend you a hand.
Get to know your Fruit Squad. They are a friendly bunch who can’t wait to meet you, have a chat about your trees and get their hands on your fruit.
Give us a call to talk about how we can help you turn your leftovers into a real gift for your neighbourhood.
phone: 9480 8207
Anyone can donate their excess fruit – homeowners, renters, organisations and businesses.
We accept all kinds of fruit from lemons and grapes to persimmons and calamondins! The only fruits that we can’t use too many of are olives and cumquats.
If you don’t have fruit at the moment, you can still register your tree and we’ll be in touch when the relevant fruiting season comes around.
SPREAD THE WORD
We also need people to identify neighbours with fruit trees and get them involved.
If there are fruit trees in your area, have a chat with your neighbour and tell them about what we do. Or you can pop a flyer in their mailbox. Send us an email at fruitsquad@divrs.org.au with your name, address and the number of flyers you need and we’ll send some out to you.
VOLUNTEERS - pick with us
Do you have a few spare hours once or twice a month to help us harvest trees?
Are you interested in meeting new friends while volunteering your time to your community?
Are you passionate about food security, reducing waste or urban food production?
The Darebin Fruit Squad needs you! Let’s get picking!
DAREBIN FRUIT SQUAD T-SHIRTS
Wear your community spirit with pride and share the message of the Darebin Fruit Squad with everyone you meet. A t-shirt for members, friends and supporters of the Darebin Fruit Squad. Available here.
OUR STORY
Have you noticed that Darebin backyards are bursting with fruit trees?
Many were planted years ago by prudent backyard gardeners. These far-sighted folks were often migrants who brought to Melbourne their vast knowledge of fruit and veg growing.
Add to this picture the care that the land has received from Wurundjeri people for millennia and the more recent plantings made by people who continue to value backyard food-growing, and what we have is a veritable food paradise!
In 2012 Transition Darebin saw an opportunity in this urban orchard for sharing food within the community and for reducing waste. They formed a volunteer group to harvest the excess fruit from these trees and vines and the Darebin Fruit Squad was born.
The Squad evolved in partnership with Jika Jika Community Centre until 2014 when it moved to DIVRS and became part of our Urban Food Program.
Between 2012 and April 2023 we harvested over 16,000 kilos of produce and we’re still counting!!
All the fruit that we harvest is shared with the Darebin community through DIVRS’s Community Information and Support Program where it becomes a healthy and nutritious addition to someone’s grocery parcel. If there is more fruit than DIVRS can use, the excess is shared with local community organisations who share it with their participants.
People donate their excess fruit to us because they have more than they need and want to share it with people in our community to increase food security and equity. They may not have the time or capacity to pick it themselves. Another reason for donating is to reduce food waste. Without the Darebin Fruit Squad, much of this fruit would be wasted, left on the ground to rot or thrown in the bin.
The Darebin Fruit Squad is committed to supporting the Darebin urban orchard and the community that cares for it. We run workshops for Darebin Fruit Squad volunteers, householders and the local community on fruit tree care including pruning, harvesting and management of the increasingly problematic pest, the Queensland Fruit Fly. Our volunteering opportunities also promote social connection, inclusion, wellbeing and knowledge sharing.
The Darebin Fruit Squad is a proud member of the Darebin Food Harvest Network, a group of passionate Darebin community members who are working together on sustainable food initiatives and improving food security in Darebin.
We were on Gardening Australia back in 2018 and although things have changed for us since then, it’s great to see Fruit Squad profiled on one of Australia’s favourite tv shows:
