Community festival helps Lancaster residents make use of surplus fruit

At this time of year, it is common to see fruit trees bulging with their load of apples, and some of it inevitably falls to the ground and quickly starts to spoil.

Owners of gardens or small orchards may find themselves struggling to keep up, or to make use of all the fruit before it starts going off.

This is where Share the Harvest comes in: the festival was conceived by the team at the climate action project Closing Loops as a way to bring local communities in North Lancashire together and make better use of the seasonal glut of apples and other fruit.

Instead of letting fruit go to waste, the festival joins up many joyful community activities happening around the harvest season. Last year, communities collectively rescued nine tonnes of local fruit which got distributed to local food clubs, preserved, eaten or juiced.

More than 3,000 litres of juice got pressed and enjoyed locally, about half of it as cider.

Happening across the district throughout autumn, the festival is centered around encouraging the “gleaning” (meaning rescue of surplus produce) of local fruit and to celebrate the harvest together as a community.

Anyone in north Lancashire is invited to join in, for example by:

• Organising fruit picking activities in local neighbourhoods. A how-to-guide for organisers is available on the Share the Harvest website.
• Donating surplus fruit and vegetables to the local charity Eggcup, from where it will get distributed to food clubs across the district.
• Adding a community event or fruit picking activity to the online festival programme.
• Attending one of the many events on the festival programme or signing up as a volunteer with the North Lancashire Gleaning Network.

For those who need help with harvesting, Eggcup has a range of harvesting equipment available to borrow free of charge.

It includes extendable apple pickers to reach higher up fruit and crates. Help may also be available from the group of volunteers at the North Lancashire Gleaning Network.

For those interested in juicing part of their apple harvest, the FoodFutures network has two large-scale apple pressing machines available that can be borrowed and taken to community events.

Anyone interested in borrowing equipment, donating produce or hosting an apple pressing activity is encouraged to get in touch with [email protected].

Donations of produce can be dropped off at Eggcup’s Euston Road warehouse in Morecambe, and the Eggcup team may be able to collect surplus produce, especially larger quantities.

The main focus of the Share the Harvest activities is on apples, but other seasonal fruit such as pears, plums and damsons as well as vegetables are equally welcome.

Nina Osswald, engagement coordinator at the Closing Loops project that coordinates the Share the Harvest programme of events, said: “A lot of fruit has ripened early in August this year, so the festival may come a bit later for rescuing fruit like local damsons and blackberries.

"However, some varieties of apples and pears are still ripening on the trees and can also be stored, so we hope that Share the Harvest will encourage many people to do their bit to prevent food waste.

"Apart from just being about the fruit, Share the Harvest is also an opportunity and invitation for local people to get outdoors and get together in celebrating this lovely time of year.”

Share the Harvest is a local festival happening across north Lancashire throughout September and October.

It is coordinated by the Closing Loops project at FoodFutures, North Lancashire’s award-winning sustainable food network. The festival consists of community events and activities organised by many different organisations and individuals.

A wide range of events including apple days, Lancaster’s Harvest Market on September 11, the FoodFutures Harvest Feast, preservation workshops, and of course fruit picking and juicing will be happening throughout September and October.

At the Harvest Market, a highlight will be cooking demos featuring seasonal fruit and veg, with tasters and free recipe cards.

At several of the larger events, attendees are invited to bring along their own apples for juicing as long as the trees have not been sprayed and the fruit has been picked off the trees (not the ground) so the juice can be drunk fresh. These events include Christ Church Apple Festival on September 12 and the FoodFutures Harvest Feast on September 20.

The full programme of events and activities can be seen online at www.foodfutures.org.uk/share-the-harvest/#programme