Apples and Root Cellars – A Challenge

Jun 132011
 
 June 13, 2011  Posted by Mark Clawson No Responses »

In 2010 Good Cheer’s Gleeful Gleaners harvested more than 2100 pounds of apples, pears, plums and Asian pears in their first season. There were 51 harvest volunteers who picked the extra fruit offered by 23 generous tree owners. A total of 27 harvests boosted the food bank’s supply of fresh, organically managed local fruit that found it’s way into the homes of our clients.

The Gleeful Gleaners have a wish list going into the 2011 harvest season. They would welcome a volunteer willing to spend the three-and-a-half month season handling their database, matching harvest teams with trees needing picking. This individual needs to be available from mid-July through October and should be comfortable with email and word processing. They need someone who is good at getting information to the right person at the right time and keeping track of data. Last year, this job involved about 10 hours per week. If this appeals to you please call Nancy Hepp at 221-8664 or send a message to gleefulgleaners@goodcheer.org to explore this opportunity.

A root cellar.

Good Cheer could really use a root cellar to handle the storage of fruits and vegetables. A root cellar is simply a cold place to store vegetables and fruit for the winter months. It’s a way to store crops without using energy. A traditional root cellar is an underground structure built into the side of a hill.

The need for a root cellar is becoming more evident. We are finding that fruits don’t winter well in our storage facility. The potential of losing 50% of what we get to temperature forces us to make cider or applesauce so that the fruit doesn’t get thrown out.

Damien Cortez, food bank coordinator, indicated that if we had a root cellar we wouldn’t have to be buying apples now. The success of the Gleeful Gleaners will mean more product coming to the food bank which is great, however, we need to address the storage issue. Damien is putting together a task force to explore the idea of a root cellar. Anyone that has any knowledge about root cellars please call Damien at the food bank (360-221-6454 option 1).

Good Cheer is also looking for apple experts who can help us with the many different varieties that we receive at the food bank. The more that we know the better we can store them.

Good Cheer!

Gleeful Gleaning of Good Cheer

Sep 042010
 
 September 4, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin 1 Response »

I continue to be amazed and very proud to be living in this community of ours. We as a community are making a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Another example of this caring can be seen in the Gleeful Gleaners. In June of this year they formed a  partnership with Good Cheer to help reduce food insecurity. The group is looking to connect with people who are willing to share their extra non-sprayed fruit and bring it to  people in need.

Gleaning is the term for collecting food that would otherwise go to waste.

“I don’t like to waste our natural resources,” said Margaret Moore of Clinton. “When I drive around every fall, I see lots of fruit falling to the ground.”

“At a time when food is getting more expensive and Good Cheer’s donations are down, we wanted to find a way to capture that precious asset and have fun doing it.”

Good Cheer has tried in the past to respond to offers of donated fruit, but has had difficulty mustering the manpower to do the picking. We’re always grateful when community members have a good idea, and then do all the legwork, too! That’s exactly what they’ve done.

Healthy eating is our main focus and now we’ll have more fresh fruit to give to our clients. This is a wonderful complement to the Good Cheer Garden and another blessing from the people of this community.

On South Whidbey, Moore was joined by Nancy Snow and A.T. Birmingham-Young of Langley, and Kathy Deveau of Freeland, and the four set about developing their concept.

People all over the world are creating projects to harvest and share extra fruit from backyard trees. The Gleeful Gleaners envision  a future in which all fruit trees are cared for and harvested and where fruit withering on the tree or rotting on the ground is a thing of the past. You can click here to read an article on gleaning in the New York Times.

The group is looking for worm-free fruit from non-sprayed trees, and will gladly accept donated harvested fruit to go along with what the volunteers pick. They actually scout the neighborhoods and knock on doors in support of their program.

I’m sure that the community will be willing to support their efforts and warm hearts!

Why Bother?

We’ll help get local, healthy food to the members of our community in need of it.

We’ll enjoy the pleasure of a convivial outing with a team of like-minded people.

We’ll reduce the sanitation and pest problems unharvested fruit can lead to.

We’ll use, rather than waste, a valuable resource. It just makes sense.

We’ll have some fun while doing some good!

What Can You Do?

Share fruit! If you have a tree with more fruit than you can use, let us know, and we’ll see if we can help you harvest it.

Volunteer as a tree donor.

Help harvest! They are also looking for people to harvest, transport, or process food for distribution or to give or lend fruit-picking equipment (ladders, fruit pickers, and bags).

Volunteer to help with the harvest.

You can learn more by visiting their site by clicking here.

Good Cheer!