We’re Branching Out!
Randall Lee at work
Years ago, forward thinking residents in Alameda planted fruit trees, and today, we continue to enjoy the fruits of their labor. However, not all of the fruit trees in our community receive the care they need to remain strong, healthy, and productive for future generations. Our volunteer fruit pickers often observe sick or neglected trees as well as inedible fruit going into green bins instead of delicious fruit into hungry bellies.
In response to community need, Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) secured a grant from StopWaste.Org to pilot our “Branching Out” program providing a limited amount of low-cost fruit tree pruning services to property owners in the city of Alameda.
The grant is now completed. However, if you need pruning work done on your trees please check our Resources page for a listing of local professional tree pruners.
We were very pleased to learn that Alameda Backyard Growers were offering a program to prune citrus trees in our city. When contacted, they sent a qualified, experienced artisan to our home to prune our orange, lemon and lime trees. He arrived, as scheduled, to review our needs and understand our concerns. He made an appointment to return, and showed up on time – to do an excellent job of pruning the trees exactly as we had discussed – thinning the Meyer Lemon tree, shortening both the lime and orange trees so they can provide more fruit. He even left the lemons that had to be removed at the time of pruning.
We were – and are – very appreciative of Mr. Lee’s artistry and skill. The “excess” fruit was delivered to the seniors at Mastick Senior Center.” Lola Brown