Sharing Your Lemons

Need Harvest Support?

Just One Tree supports community harvesting (also called gleaning) as a great resource for those who have extra fruit on their trees or in their backyards, or know of extra fruit in public spaces. Connect with San Francisco’s thriving local urban harvesting program: JustOneTree is proud to partner with the Department of Public Works, whose Urban Harvesting Program has been in operation since 2010. To have your tree gleaned and share your bounty with the SF Marin Food Bank, contact Philip Singh at Philip.Singh@sfdpw.com to schedule an appointment! You get to determine how much fruit you want to keep for personal use.

In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the DPW Urban Harvesting Program gleaned 967 pounds of produce!

Scroll to bottom of page for more information on how to participate.

Since April 2010, the Department of Public Works has been connecting neighbors with extra fruit, to the local San Francisco Food Bank. Shawn Fincher of DPW says the most rewarding part of his position is watching the win-win system of gleaning and sharing. “There’s a lot of food just going to waste. When I come to the property owner’s house, they are thrilled that the fruit is being harvested. And when the fruit can be given back to San Francisco residents through our local Food Bank, it helps out everybody in the community.”

According to an article published in 2010 in the San Francisco Chronicle, “almost 150,000 properties in San Francisco have backyards,” said Muhammed Nuru, DPW’s deputy director of operations. “And if each fruit tree produced 20 pounds, 3 million pounds could be donated each year.”

To sign up for the urban gleaning program and register for free backyard gleaning (harvesting) please visit these two sites for additional information:

• Check out our city-sponsored Urban Gleaning Program here where you can download a simple form, fill it out, and send back to DPW.

If you have questions, please contact

Philip Singh, Department of Public Works: Philip.Singh@sfdpw.org