We will be thinning fruitlets at Leaven Community Center (our HQ) and Vernon Elementary across the street! No experience needed; we will provide tools, fruit trees to practice on, and demonstrations.

Note: If you are trained in fruit thinning already, please consider signing up to be a volunteer trainer and help others learn how to do it!

What is fruit thinning? By removing sometimes 50-80% of the fruit a tree sets, we can increase the quality of the fruit, reduce pest and disease pressure, AND help avoid the tree putting all it’s production into this year and skipping out on producing NEXT year.

Why host a training day? This is the launch of our 2nd Annual Community Thinning Project, where we train volunteers on proper thinning techniques. We are building up our expertise base in preparation for future thinning opportunities in the yards of fruit tree owners across Portland, which will result in higher quality fruit harvests in the late summer/early fall.

Want to learn more ahead of time? Check out our blog post that highlights why, when, and how to thin fruitlets (aka, baby fruits).