Sunday, 5 July 2026

Bumper harvest season celebrated

    By Brenda Harwood
    1. The Star

    Volunteer fruit picker Mark Dobson makes friends with a resident chicken during a Community Fruit...
    Volunteer fruit picker Mark Dobson makes friends with a resident chicken during a Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti picking session. Photos: supplied
    Local volunteers harvested about 3 tonnes of fruit from properties across the wider Dunedin area in another bumper Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti season.

    A delighted Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti co-ordinator Karin Ludwig said it had been a "happy harvest season" for dozens of volunteers, who picked 1230kg of apple, 670kg of pears and 960kg of plums.

    "The slow start to summer did mean that quite a bit of the fruit ripened later than usual, but in the end it was a bumper season," Ms Ludwig said.

    Picking the fruit was labour-intensive, involving about 250 hours of work from 80 volunteers at 180 properties stretching from Mosgiel to Waikouaiti.

    "The exciting thing is we had about 50 new volunteers this year and we also signed up 20 new properties, which was great," she said.

    Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti co-ordinator Karin Ludwig picks pears on a Dunedin property.
    Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti co-ordinator Karin Ludwig picks pears on a Dunedin property.
    Among the biggest producers were properties in the northern coastal settlements of Waitati, Warrington and Karitane, as well as on Otago Peninsula.

    "We had a really good spread of volunteers and property owners involved this season, which showed there is a lot of support out there for our kaupapa."

    Operating under the umbrella of Our Food Network Ōtepoti, the Community Fruit Harvest programme aims to pick excess fruit and produce from people’s gardens and re-distribute it across the community.

    This is achieved through donations of fresh produce to foodbanks, organisations, schools and pātaka kai community pantries dotted around the city.

    "The fruit harvest makes a valuable contribution towards creating a food resilient community in Dunedin, at a time when people are facing growing food insecurity, a cost of living crisis and a climate emergency," Ms Ludwig said.

    "The foodbanks were very happy to receive the fruit for food parcels and other groups made good use of it to make preserves and jams," she said.

    South Dunedin resident Mary Hossack, 90, was delighted with the produce harvested at her property...
    South Dunedin resident Mary Hossack, 90, was delighted with the produce harvested at her property by Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti volunteers.
    The Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti has been operating for several years, with funding support in 2025-26 from Lotteries, Mercy Hospital and the Dunedin City Council’s Waste Minimisation initiative.

    At present, Our Food Network Ōtepoti is looking for sponsorship to support the project for the 2026-27 harvest season.

    The harvest team has created a private, secure database of properties in greater Dunedin where there are prolific fruit trees to be harvested, which is updated regularly. Anyone who has large quantities of fruit and vegetables growing on their properties is invited to register their fruit trees with Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti before the next picking season.

    Volunteers keen to help pick the produce are also invited to register.

    For more information, visit ourfoodnetwork.org.nz

    brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz