Harvest co-ordinator Karin Ludwig said almost a tonne of plums (956kg) had been picked out of backyards across the city, from Evansdale to Green Island, since December.
Plums were the first crop to ripen, with pears and apples still to come down the pipeline.
"The cooler weather has impacted the fruit, it is ripening later and the rain has split some of the plums," she said.
"We have still had some fantastic crops from the plum trees and have picked more than 100kg off some trees.
"They really are amazing this year."
One Evansdale property had yielded 200kg of yellow plums, picked by 20 volunteers.
"That was an amazing team effort," she said.
The Green Island Community Garden had also yielded an impressive haul of more than 100kg of plums off one tree, which had already produced boxes of plums during previous pickings.
"We have just started picking pears and managed to get 40kg of nashi pears from one backyard recently.
"So things are looking good so far."
The project has been operating for several years, under the umbrella of Our Food Network Dunedin, with volunteers rescuing unwanted fruit from private gardens in and around Dunedin and distributing it to communities that need it.
Working with funding from the Dunedin City Council’s Waste Minimisation initiative, Mercy Hospital and a Lotteries Grant, Community Fruit Harvest Dunedin Ōtepoti has 50 volunteers on its books and 150 registered properties to harvest from — many with multiple trees.
"Our goal is to distribute healthy foods to our community, minimise garden waste, and help build a food resilient community," Ms Ludwig said.
The harvested fruit is distributed to the community via foodbanks, pataka kai community food pantries and community organisations such as the Bowling Club.
Ms Ludwig said one of the joys of harvesting fruit over the summer season had been having her children Olaf, 12, Matai, 9, and Gustav Judd Ludwig, 6, come along and help out.
Friends had also brought their children along to participate.
"What could be better than that?"
With plenty of fruit picking still to come this season, Community Fruit Harvest welcomes more volunteer pickers and registrations from owners of backyard fruit trees.
For more information, and to sign up, visit the Our Food Network website www.ourfoodnetwork.org.nz and find the Community Fruit Harvest section.
You can also follow Community Fruit Harvest Dunedin Ōtepoti on Facebook.
RIPENESS GUIDE:
Community Fruit Harvest Dunedin Ōtepoti has created a ripeness guide for those with laden fruit trees, who are unsure if they are ready to be picked.
Plums: Look for fruit that is fully coloured, slightly soft, and comes off the tree easily. A ripe plum should smell sweet and fruity.
Most plums that are ready to pick have a chalky glaze.
Apples: Fruit on the sunny side of the tree ripens first.
Cup an apple in your hand and lift it up or sideways — if it is ready, it will pop right off the branch. Pulling can break next season’s spurs, or create space for disease.
Avoid picking too early — apples need to ripen on the tree for full sweetness.
Pears: Do not ripen on the tree and need to be picked when mature.
Hold the fruit in your hand and tilt it horizontally. Mature fruit will easily come away from the branch at this angle.
If it is not yet ready, it will hold on.
Collected pears can take up to two weeks to ripen off the tree.
