City offers plenty of fruit trees for public picking

You might want to wash away traces of smoke.

But by now there is plenty of fruit ready for picking in Lethbridge. And it’s free.

Environment Lethbridge points out Parks personnel have planted a variety of fruit trees around the city over the years, in parks and boulevards.

“Now is a good time to go out and check the trees in your neighbourhood,” says Kathleen Sheppard, executive director at Environment Lethbridge.

Cherries, pears, plums and apples are among the species planted, she reports.

They were selected along with the evergreens and deciduous trees that add life and colour to the city’s public areas.

And they’re pinpointed on an interactive map on the organization’s website: environmentlethbridge.ca.

The city has plenty of crabapple trees as well, she adds — too many to post on the site.

The fruit is available on a first-come basis, Sheppard says, but not everyone knows about it.

“So we put it on our Facebook page every year,” as a reminder.

Trees growing in the city’s river valley are not included in the U-pick opportunity, she points out.

Wherever it’s grown — in the park or in your own backyard — Sheppard says the quality of the fruit should not be affected by recent smoky conditions. “Just wash it off.” Follow @DMabellHerald on Twitter