What’s the Difference Between Harvesting and Foraging?

These activities may appear similar, but in the Minneapolis park system, their differences are important.

Permitted: Harvesting, or gathering a ripened food crop planted for that purpose

Harvesting edible fruit and nuts for personal consumption is allowed at specific locations in Minneapolis parks (commercial harvesting is not allowed). People can also grow and harvest their own food by applying for a free plot at MPRB community gardens in neighborhood parks.

Prohibited: Foraging, or searching for, identifying, and collecting wild food (e.g. greens, berries, mushrooms)

Foraging in Minneapolis parks is prohibited to prevent environmental damage, especially in the park system’s natural areas. With more than 20 million visits to the Minneapolis park system each year, unrestricted foraging would be devastating to plant life and negatively impact wildlife. For example, trampling of desirable plants could lead to invasive species getting a foothold; and unofficial dirt paths (“cowpaths”) could lead to fragmented habitat and the closing of natural areas for restoration.

Harvesting Guidelines & Locations

Where and when you can harvest food in Minneapolis parks

  • Make sure you’re harvesting where it is permitted. The lists below show parks and park areas where harvesting is and is not permitted.
  • Make sure your harvest is edible! Learn beforehand about the fruits, nuts or other foods you wish to harvest; find out how to tell when they’re ripe and edible.

Locations

The food-bearing plants in many Minneapolis parks are a result of community feedback dating to the early 2010s (see “Background” below). Additional orchards (plantings of fruit and nut trees) and community gardens are planned as part of future improvement projects at parks based on master plans for those parks.

Harvesting IS Permitted

Plots with “community harvest” signs at MPRB community gardens 

Current orchards (fruit and nut tree plantings) 

  • Adams Triangle (South Minneapolis)
  • Bridal Veil Gardens (existing, formerly known as Towerside Park, Northeast/Southeast Minneapolis)
  • Lyndale Farmstead (Southwest Minneapolis)

We can’t list all the parks where you might find a fruit or nut tree/shrub that is able to be harvested: There are simply too many!

But you can keep in mind:
Is the harvestable food on this list of allowable fruits and nuts? Is it outside the areas where harvesting is not permitted (natural areas, golf courses, gardens and bird sanctuaries)? Then pick away!


Planned orchards

In the future, you’ll be able to harvest fruit and nuts in these parks:

North Minneapolis parks
Farview Park, Folwell Park, Hall Park, Lovell Square, Perkins Hill Park, Victory Park

Northeast/Southeast Minneapolis parks
Audubon Park, Dickman Park, Jackson Square Park

South Minneapolis parks
Corcoran Park, Nokomis-Hiawatha (regional park – east side of Lake Hiawatha), Peavey

Southwest Minneapolis parks
Armatage, Bryant Square, Dell Park, Penn Model Village Triangle, Waveland Triangle

Harvesting is NOT Permitted

Prohibited locations below are also shown on a map [PDF]

  • All natural areas
  • All golf courses
  • Gardens and bird sanctuaries, including:
    • Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary
    • Longfellow Gardens
    • Loring Park Garden of the Seasons
    • Lyndale Park
    • Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
    • Minnehaha Falls Pergola Garden
    • Nokomis Naturescape Garden
    • Quaking Bog
    • Roberts Bird Sanctuary
    • Song of Hiawatha Garden
    • Stevens House

Background on Harvesting

Harvesting in Minneapolis parks was once prohibited. However, community feedback during development of the 2014 Urban Agricultural Activity Plan showed that the public favored creating specific park areas for food harvest.

Since then, the MPRB has accomplished several goals of the Urban Agriculture Plan:

  • Modify park ordinances to allow for public harvest of food produced within designated edible landscapes.
  • Designate park spaces for edible landscapes and for growing trees, shrubs, and perennials producing food suitable for human consumption.
  • Develop policy and procedures for establishment of community gardens in neighborhood parks.
  • In 2017, Ordinance PB2-2was amended to allow the picking, or harvesting, of specific types of fruits and nuts in Minneapolis parks. Click on “Harvesting Guidelines & Locations” above to see where harvesting is permitted and where it is prohibited.

Related Information

MPRB Community Gardens
In 2019, MPRB began establishing community gardens in neighborhood parks for residents interested in growing their own food. The link above has information on current and future gardens and garden plot applications.

MPRB Urban Agricultural Activity Plan [PDF]
Adopted in 2014, the plan details MPRB’s support for sustainable urban agriculture activities, and its ongoing alignment and collaboration with community partners as well as Minneapolis Public Schools, City of Minneapolis, and Hennepin County.

City of Minneapolis: Homegrown Minneapolis
City initiative launched in 2008 to support dozens of community gardens (outside Minneapolis parks) and expand the availability of healthy, sustainable, locally grown foods, in partnership with area businesses, community organizations, non-profits, and residents

University of Minnesota Extension: Foraging wild-grown plants and fungi and foraging in your own yard