I was flicking through one of out local magazines the other day and noticed an advert for Apple Sharing. I’d never seen this before and as with everything to do with sharing, I had to find out more.
Beccles in Suffolk has an Apple Share scheme as part of its Sustainable Beccles umbrella. This encourages people with apple trees and too much fruit to get together with people who would like to use the fruit. It also helps people who have difficulty picking their fruit.
When we lived in London, we had several fruit trees and every couple of years at least one tree would go into overdrive with a massive crop. The last time was two years ago and we still have left about three bags of the apple that we cut up, blanched and froze. In one mammoth apple production line, we created over 50 bags of apple mix: that’s a lot of apple crumbles. We also made an awful lot of chutney and apple sauce, and still have a few jars of these left. We also gave away about ten carrier bags of apples to anyone who would take them. I wish there had been an apple sharing scheme then.
It’s a great idea and I hope it is taken up by all the Transition Towns.