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Holy Guacamole!
updated: Feb 05, 2013, 9:06 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Anyone else had people come to their house and inquire about harvesting their avocados?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 371225P	2013-02-05 09:22 PM
Nope but I'll come pick some for you if you're giving them away lol!
COMMENT 371229P	2013-02-05 09:42 PM
The idea, if they are not scammers, is nice to put unused fruit and vegetables put to good use--even if it profit for strangers. I see a lot of citrus, perfectly good, rotting because property owners don't pick it. It bothers me to see any food thrown away. I wonder though, what about liability? There's no way around a lawsuit if a person picking with your permission fell off a ladder or tripped.
SHARON93111	2013-02-05 10:03 PM
backyard bounty gathers fruit & veggies for the foodbank. Call them, then you know who is in your back yard.
COMMENT 371238P	2013-02-05 10:14 PM
I haven't knocked on strangers' doors myself, yet, but I've been tempted, for izote (yucca) flowers, but they are too high up (I have a neighbor who makes soup with them). Loquats call to me, loudly. My parents have gotten callers at their door about their fruit trees. We have a neighborhood network between citrus, persimmons and avocados. I sure could go for an avocado tonight. Agree with Sharon about Foodbank "gleaners" or donations to them. Do what you want with the goods, just don't let the food go to waste! I'd say more but I'd get flamed.
COMMENT 371253P	2013-02-06 12:06 AM
The food bank sure could use all that fruit falling on the ground. They are very short on fruits and vegetables. I volunteer there.
COMMENT 371255P	2013-02-06 12:33 AM
If you have more than you can use and give to your friends, put an ad on Craigslist and sell the avos for $1.00 each. Make enough money to pay for watering your other trees/plants. Plus, make some avocado aficionados very very happy.
COMMENT 371271P	2013-02-06 07:08 AM
Just got some "just picked" avocados from a local nursery; each was ripe on one side but as hard as nails on the other. Not sure if they were affected by that freeze we had some weeks back..... I've taken oranges to the Food Bank - it's a great place to donate backyard fruit you can't use yourself (but there is a restriction on oranges from some parts of the region - FB people can give you more info).
FLICKA	2013-02-06 07:35 AM
The Foodbank gives the produce away to deserving people, so much better than letting it rot. I periodically send a check to the Foodbank, for every dollar they can buy $7 worth of food (wholesale), makes a donation stretch.
COMMENT 371290P	2013-02-06 07:55 AM
When we stayed at a house that had a persimmon tree, we were besieged with requests to pick the fruit. This may be similar = the frost may have affected the last hanging fruit and the next crop?
COMMENT 371294	2013-02-06 08:00 AM
Wouldn't pickers for the Foodbank identify themselves as such? Strangers soliciting to harvest your fruit trees with no indication of the destination of said fruit is highly suspicious... probably for their own profit.
COMMENT 371307	2013-02-06 08:36 AM
In the 1980s my parents lived in a tract house off Cathedral Oaks near Old San Marcos Rd. Their lot had several avocado trees on it. Enough that it was somewhat hard to really see the house. A couple of years they had "the association" pick and market the avocados and they got enough money to pay property taxes from the crop. Other years when the crop wasn't so good my father would pick and take a box of avocados to Safeway and they'd buy them for 25 cents each. The next day he'd see them in the bins at 50 cents each. I REALLY miss not being in SB and able to have fresh avocados. In Silicon Valley I think most of them in the stores come from Mexico and are bruised pretty badly between the store handling of them and my wife's lack of care in bagging them to bring them home.
COMMENT 371309	2013-02-06 08:39 AM
At least they asked. I watch people come and steal them over the fence of the grower across the street. One guy in a BMW shows up with a fruit picker so he can get the better ones up top. Watched another dad hold a toddler by the ankles over the barb wire so the toddler could grab extra. There is a big fine for stealing like that. I have heard you can pick the ones that hang over the sidewalk on public property, but these people go way past the sidewalk.
COMMENT 371325	2013-02-06 09:12 AM
There is a rental on Transfer with a huge avocado tree that pretty much goes to waste.
COMMENT 371343	2013-02-06 09:42 AM
255P: Why would anyone in their right mind buy avos at $1 each when you can get them at the store all the time (ripe and ready) for that price or less? I would never buy fruit off of Craigslist. Too many creeps and crazies. I DO love the idea of backyard harvesting, though, not for profit. It would be terrific to utilize all the fruit that goes to waste. There are tons of hungry people right here in our own expensive city!
COMMENT 371403	2013-02-06 11:17 AM
I watched a mom in a black SUV drop two high school age kids at the big grove at Los Carneros and Covington, both had big back packs capable of holding 40 or 50 each. Pretty bold it being 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Pretty crappy those not being their trees and all
COMMENT 371454	2013-02-06 01:03 PM
Avocado theft from commercial groves is a serious crime. Please call 911 if you witness a crime in progress or know of individuals that have committed a crime. Besides the thanks from your grateful neighbors, the California Avocado Commission also provides a reward if an arrest is made, then again if a conviction is made. The reward is a sliding scale starting at $100 for a misdemeanor, up to $2,500 for a felony. I can't post the weblink, but please contact the Commission at (800) 344-4333, Ext. 123 for more info.
FLICKA	2013-02-06 02:28 PM
Why would anyone watch avacados being stolen and not call 911? Neighbors would be grateful if you'd help protect their property. On the other hand, why not let people pick your backyard fruit if you are only going to let it go to waste, w/your permission, of course.
COMMENT 371577	2013-02-06 04:47 PM
So funny Flicka and 454, try calling the cops about someone stealing fruit, then wait for them to show up, I think you will be waiting a really long time....... A co worker had his door kicked in and their heirloom jewelry stolen, response from police about recovery or arrests "we have more important things to do"
COMMENT 371646	2013-02-06 07:51 PM
577 and others, a call to 911 reporting theft of avocados from a commercial grove will get an immediate response. Avocados are big business in California...hell hath no fury like an Avocado grower and his powerful Commission. FYI, the theft of $250 worth of commercially grown crops is considered grand theft (aka, a felony). As has been stated in another thread, a felony on your record is a huge bummer.
COMMENT 371672P	2013-02-06 09:50 PM
When I was growing up in Davis, farmers used to invite us townsfolk to glean the orchards after the pickers had gone through: almonds, walnuts, and apricots. We had a lot of canned and frozen apricots.
COMMENT 371690P	2013-02-07 12:31 AM
343: Your idea of a good avocado and my idea of a good avocado are definitely two different things. Store avocados usually taste bleah. Organic ones cost a small fortune. And, yes, a lot of orchard owners spray their trees with pesticides. I would much rather buy from a local tree owner, know that the owner doesn't spray the tree, and get a great haas avo. Craigslist is a terrific resource for finding tasty, organic fruit. $1.00 for an organic, super tasting avo is a bargain.
COMMENT 371745	2013-02-07 08:10 AM
I hear Chilean avo's are best; well rested after their cruise.

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