Quotes by Joni Diserens

“We go all year around because we have the luxury of ongoing harvests.”

“When the participants told me they couldnt find anything to can, I told them to go out and identify different kinds of fruit trees in their own neighborhoods. When people found out we were doing this, they started to call me at home, saying, Please come harvest our fruit tree. Wed love to give people the fruit. Pretty soon, I had 50 names.”

“The thing that shocks you is how much fruit is in one tree. Once we picked 400 pounds from one apple tree - we couldnt even fit into the car.”

“So theres a tremendous opportunity out there.”

“Our biggest challenge now is funding the program with the growth were seeing. Theres a lot of fruit to be harvested out there.”

“Weve had a lot of interest in Alameda County from agencies feeding the hungry. They want more produce, and theres a lot of backyard fruit not being harvested.”

“But were getting a good response from Berkeley homeowners, so well see how it goes. Well experiment, perhaps in the Fruitvale area in Oakland, or Vacaville. We want to see if its more fruitful, if you will, to spend our efforts there.”