Fruit Preservation
Extending the harvest beyond the season.
CFR’s Fruit Preservation Program helps ensure the abundance of fruit harvested each season continues nourishing our community long after harvest wraps up.
We know there’s only so much fresh fruit a household can use at once. During peak harvest, volunteers often gather more fruit than can be immediately enjoyed fresh. Rather than let that surplus go to waste, this program focuses on teaching practical skills that help people turn rescued fruit into canned goods, frozen produce, dried snacks, cider, tasty desserts, and other preserved foods that can be enjoyed year-round.
Through hands-on classes and workshops, community members of all ages learn how to safely cook with and preserve seasonal fruit — building confidence in the kitchen while reducing food waste.
Launching in Summer 2026, our Community Preservation Tool Library will make equipment more accessible by offering rentals of cider presses, canning pots, dehydrators, and other preservation tools. This resource will lower the barrier to entry for households who want to preserve fruit but may not be ready to invest in specialized equipment.
By pairing education with access to tools, this program helps extend the life of rescued fruit, strengthen food security, and make local harvests available to our community well beyond the growing season.
Learn more
Our classes & workshops are designed to make food preservation approachable, practical, and empowering. We focus on beginner-friendly classes that help community members build confidence turning rescued fruit into delicious, shelf-stable foods they can enjoy at home.
Past offerings have included:
Applesauce Canning for Beginners — A step-by-step introduction to water bath canning where participants learn safe preservation techniques while making their own jars of applesauce to take home.
Family-Friendly Fruit Preservation Classes — Hands-on workshops designed for all ages and abilities, where families learn simple preservation skills together in a supportive, welcoming environment.
Learn to Make Chokecherry Jelly — With our partners at Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, we taught volunteers how to make chokecherry jelly from the berries that were reserved from our collaborative chokecherry harvests. The jellies were distributed to Elders throughout the Wind River Reservation during Native American Heritage Month.
Our programs are intentionally accessible. You don’t need prior experience, special equipment, or advanced kitchen skills. We teach the fundamentals clearly so participants leave feeling capable of continuing the cycle — rescuing fruit, preserving it, and sustaining their households with local food long after harvest season ends.
Workshops & classes
Coming Summer 2026!
To make preservation even more accessible, Community Fruit Rescue is launching a Community Preservation Tool Library in Summer 2026.
This rental library will allow community members to borrow specialized equipment without needing to purchase it themselves. Planned items include:
Cider presses
Canning pots (electric, stainless steel, porcelain-covered steel) and utensils
Dehydrators
Additional fruit processing tools
Whether you’re pressing apples into cider, preserving pears, or dehydrating plums, this tool library will help lower the barrier to entry so more households can confidently preserve rescued fruit at home.
Check back soon for details on rentals, pricing, and availability.