The abundance project, run by environmental group Transition Town Kingston (TTK), is compiling a database of apple, pear and plum trees.Wait, what?
It plans to contact the owners of trees on private property to ask for permission to remove fruit they do not want, to prevent it going to waste.
It isn’t demanding that the owners of those trees sign them over to the group, it isn’t calling for fines for those who don’t use their excess fruit…?
Most curious. It appears that it’s actually doing some good:
Project co-ordinator Elise Barron said: “There are lots of private fruit trees in the borough so the idea is to help reduce food waste and utilise the glut that takes place with apple and pear trees.Who cares how you rationalise it to yourself. I have to say what a breath of fresh air it is not to be harangued, lectured, made to feel ‘selfish’ or told I must do extra work.
“Lots of people have trees in the garden but don’t know how to use them, and go to supermarkets to buy fruit.
“We will go around and harvest the glut and redistribute it around the borough.
“The project has multiple benefits. We are helping reduce Kingston’s carbon footprint.”
She asked anyone who knew of a fruit tree in the borough to contact the team, who will investigate who owns it. Anyone interested in volunteering to help collect the fruit to also get in touch.I can’t see any reason not to recommend this.
TTK is also planning a series of community workshops to teach people how to prune and care for their fruit trees, and how to press apples to make apple juice.
Contact abundance@ttkingston.org or see ttkingston.org for information.
19 comments:
They're welcome to mine!
I can’t see any reason not to recommend this.
Just wait for The State to get involved.(and it will)
They will insist that anyone joining will have to be CRB checked, well you'll be going to peoples homes won't you and you might see a child.
Plus don't forget Manual Handling Training, Use of Ladders, an NVQ in Advanced Secateurs Handling is a must.
and as for series of community workshops to teach people how to prune and care for their fruit trees
I hope they will all be PTTL qualified and have a HND in Horticulture, plus Advanced CRB checked.
how to press apples to make apple juice.
That's a NVQ 1 in Food Hygiene needed right there
I'm always wary when government gets involved.
First of all there is registration then armed with a list there will be permits and approvals. Then free access for verification and quality control.
Why do they need a list of everyone, why can't they just pass leaflets around.
One to watch.
The first thing that springs to mind is that if you had an apple tree in your garden, and told this organisation so, all well and good, until you want to extend your house (say) and the apple tree has to go to make space. Then your tree is on a 'register', its 'important' and more importantly, someone is getting money to manage it all, so won't want any of their empire chopped down.
Result - refusal of planning permission for your extension, because the fruit tree officer has said opposed it.
It'll never work. Offer to teach people how to make cider, on the other hand....
Aha! It's a "something to do" project to justify many, many lucrative council salaries.
"Luckily, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) currently has a dedicated and very supportive Climate Change and Sustainable Travel department. Working with them, and with an increasingly wide range of officers and Councillors across the organisation, will be crucial as we seek to create and implement an Energy Descent Action Plan for Kingston."
"I can’t see any reason not to recommend this" ...
I can .. Google Earth only gives a restricted peek into people's rear gardens, this scheme allows them a good, close-up look at one's security arrangements ..
And who is legally liable if a picker falls off a ladder or cuts themelf with secateurs pruning in someone's garden?
Jim
I am happy to say fruit trees are exempted from preservation orders (which destroy more trees than they save of course and stop oaks being planted if you have half a brain). Although this could chnage if it becomes a valuable community food resource...
“The project has multiple benefits. We are helping reduce Kingston’s carbon footprint.” ...
Apologies if I appear to be a little slow here .. but if, for example, you have 100 householders, with fruit-bearing trees .. making weekly visits to the supermarket .. that equates to 100 journeys ..
Now, if you have people visiting those householders to collect fruit, that will entail two journeys .. one there to collect the fruit & one back to a presumably central sorting and distribution point .. then further journeys to get said fruit to the people who will allegedly benefit from it ..
Plus the journeys of the scheme administrators, supervisors, canvassers, sorters etc ..
Surely that will entail more journeys, thus increasing to so-called carbon footprint .. or am I missing something vital here ?
Oh dear! The good Captain Haddock has fallen into a trap. He has forgotten that reason, logic and common sense are invariably overcome when PC meddlers are at work.
how to press apples to make apple juice.
And then...
http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Homemade_Cider_Press#Home_Made_Cider_Press_Plans
Huzzah!
@ A+TA ..
It's a fair cop guv ... Lol
"“Lots of people have trees in the garden but don’t know how to use them"
One wonders how many people are so stupid they are unable to pick an apple off a tree in their own garden. Scary thought!
I may be paranoid but I have plum trees. What you need is Bulgarian neighbours with a still. The 'raki' is not unlike whiskey. I find this helps a lot dealing with quasi-governmental loons.
"Just wait for The State to get involved.(and it will)"
Yes, there's nothing the State can't screw up.
"Then your tree is on a 'register', its 'important' and more importantly, someone is getting money to manage it all, so won't want any of their empire chopped down. "
The ownership still rests with you. And you don't have to tell them a thing...
"Aha! It's a "something to do" project to justify many, many lucrative council salaries."
Could be.
"Surely that will entail more journeys, thus increasing to so-called carbon footprint..."
Yes, indeed. That's a hard one to get your head around, isn't it?
"One wonders how many people are so stupid they are unable to pick an apple off a tree in their own garden."
Indeed!
"I may be paranoid but I have plum trees. What you need is Bulgarian neighbours with a still."
I have A plum tree. You'd be lucky to get a thimbleful out of it! :)
@ allcoppedout What you need is Bulgarian neighbours with a still. Pretty illegal that, and you'll get HMRC involved
As Sid James found out to his cost in the Bless This House movie
Fruit on untended trees can be crabby, maggot ridden and sometimes a little bird pecked. Not sure how 'distributing' this round an area is a good idea: a lot of people raised on supermarket 'clean and bland' fruit in cellophane packs don't like to eat fruit that is less than perfect looking.
Of course, you could make jam or cider or whatever, but most people can't be bothered with all that. I suspect then that most of this gathered fruit will in fact be wasted: when no one wants it, it goes in the recycling bin. Instead of, er, hanging on trees for nature to recycle it.
*True story: a neighbour of mine once opened his bedroom curtains at six one sunny morning to see another neighbour (not me) up his apple tree helping himself to apples galore. The tree-climbing neighbour claimed he was doing it because he hated to see fruit go to waste. Needless to say the two never spoke again.
Given that the apple-collecting neighbour also let himself into my garden to apply weedkiller where he thought it ought to be (and we never used weedkiller in our garden) I was less than happy with this socially-minded individual.
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