Got an overabundant backyard garden or fruit tree? Don’t let the extra food go to waste! In addition to sharing the bounty with your neighbors — or getting really serious about canning and jamming — here’s how you can put your produce to good use:

1. Make money off your homegrown produce. Veggie Trader lets you buy or sell your backyard produce — or even trade what you’ve got for what you want! Turn lemons into limes by signing up and finding fruity neighbors near you.

2. Join a neighborhood produce exchange.  Neighborhood Fruit lets you find neighbors with too much fruit near you — or public trees with fruit free for the taking! The site will soon start charging a membership fee, so join while it’s in beta to get in on the free

For those seeking fruit instead of getting rid of excess stuff, Fallen Fruit maintains maps on where to find fruit trees near you — since all fruit overhanging public property’s free for your taking!

In northeast L.A., we have the Hillside Produce Coop, self-described as “a free neighborhood monthly exchange of all the FRUITS, VEGETABLES, HERBS and FLOWERS we grow in our yards” (via LAT). Participants join an email list that lets them know when and where to drop off the excess produce — then get a mixed bag of neighborhood-grown produce delivered later that day! The service is free, since people volunteer to bag and deliver the goods in exchange for a share of the bounty — something you can opt to do, if you don’t have extra garden produce to share.

3. Donate your food to those in need. Ample Harvest lets you quickly search by zipcode to find a food pantry near you eager to take extra produce off your hands. The goal’s to reduce food waste while also reducing hunger in America — all through backyard produce!

Don’t even have time to harvest your excess fruit? In the L.A. -area, we have Food Forward, a volunteer group that goes to properties they’ve been invited to, to pick excess fruit and giving the bounty to SOVA Community Food and Resource Program and MEND (via LAT). Just let the group know you’d like them to come by your fruity property to arrange a picking. You can volunteer to be a picker too!

The easiest — and perhaps most fun — way to get rid of your produce may be to simply throw a themed party. There’s a guy in Mar Vista with avocado trees who throws a backyard avocado-guacamole party every year, with guests invited to bring over chips! Know of other ways of putting your excess harvest to good use? Let us know about the resources you use in the comments.

Earlier: Yard sharing: Grow your own food — on your neighbor’s lawn

Photo by Gabriela Camerotti

1 Comments