A free fruit day in Reigate
Shoppers in Reigate Town Centre will receive a random act of kindness of the fruity kind on Saturday 15 October. From 10am to 3pm, members of Transition Redhill and Growing Redhill will be on the High Street, with a stall near The Market Hotel and Caffè Nero. They will re-distribute fruit, with a take home message to “grow your own”.
The event comes at the same time of year as national Apple Day, which was initiated by Common Ground in 1990.
The juicy bounty will all be collected from local fruit and nut trees, with zero associated ‘air miles’. As well as boxes of fruit gathered before the event, local people are invited to bring unwanted fruit to the stall during the day. Last year, donations were made from fruit trees in gardens of local streets including Eversfield Road, Nutley Lane, Deerings Road, Lonesome Lane and Chart Lane.
Derek Smith, Chair of Transition Redhill, notes there has been a glut of apples this year, probably due to the warm spring weather. He notes that pears ripened very early this year, so are sadly unlikely to be found on the stall. And if apples are not picked soon, they will become windfalls and slowly rot into the soil. He adds windfalls can be frozen now and given to birds throughout the winter. Meanwhile, Surrey shoppers turn to supermarkets for convenience, leaving their own, free and tasty crops to go to waste.
Last year we re-distributed 25 crates of fruit and nuts in what we believe was the first of its kind in Reigate. People told me it was a wonderful event, and should be repeated. I want to collect details from local people with trees willing to donate next year. I also want to spread the message to “grow your own” this Apple Day.
Members of local group, Growing Redhill, will donate Bramley Seedling and Grenadier cooking apples and Cox eating apples to the stall, from their food growing site in Merstham (www.growingredhill.co.uk). This initiative provides mini allotments for growers under the Landshare scheme, pioneered by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (www.landshare.net).
Apple Day was initiated by Common Ground in 1990. It was inspired by the revelation that we have grown about 3,000 varieties of eating, cooking and cider apples in this country, most of which have established provenances, and in discovering the richness of orchards as habitats for wildlife. Common Ground notes that in 2007 we imported nearly 70% of our apples (Defra Basic Horticultural Statistics 2008). Apples from the southern hemisphere and other far away places fill our supermarket shelves – even in Autumn, the height of our apple season. Every Apple Day event is conceived and run by people locally. For more information see the website www.commonground.org.uk.
Apple Day events in Surrey in 2011
(NB. Transition Redhill takes no responsibility for details of these events, which may change, please check websites for details).
RHS Wisley Taste of Autumn Festival - Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 October - A true celebration of all things autumnal. With apple tastings and advice, food and drink stalls, cookery demonstrations and home grown produce. Get your apples identified. www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Wisley/What-s-on
Wednesday 21st October – Apple Day at Petersham Nurseries
Help to save our orchards by buying English apples and juices and by celebrating Apple Day. A new selection of British grown fruit trees and bushes includes a wide range of apple varieties including Apple ‘Bountiful’, Apple ‘Braeburn, Apple ‘Charles Ross’, Apple ‘Golden Delicious’, Apple ‘Greensleeves’… and many more. All of the apple trees have been selected for their taste quality and good disease resistance. They are available in a number of forms including bushes, standards and fan-trained, the majority are self-fertile, all are British grown. www.petershamnurseries.com
Saturday 22 October – Transition Dorking 2nd Annual Apple Day Celebration, Dorking High Street in front of Barclay’s from 9am-2pm. Once again they will be pressing apples into fresh juice on the High Street to celebrate Apple Day. Bring along your apple glut and some clean dry containers (a one litre milk jug would be perfect) and go home with some amazing juice to drink or freeze. If you don’t have any apples – come anyway. It’s also a perfect opportunity to chat with about Food Float, Dorking Community Orchard, and Transition Dorking. www.transitiondorking.org.uk
