Abundance Wimbledon Newsletter
12 August 2019
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12 August 2019
Welcome to this fortnight's edition of the Abundance Wimbledon Newsletter! For new members - we warmly welcome you to this group and for our continuing members, thanks for all you have done so far in our season of fruit and vegetable picking, jam and chutney making. We are all looking forward to a successful Fruit Day on September 14. This fortnight's update is below so happy reading.
Topics this fortnight include:
- Thanks to all our fruit donors this fortnight
- Fruit Picking Update
- What we delivered to local charities this fortnight
- Our best selling honey will be available again this year
- Trees planted in 2009 bearing fruit
- Call for Action - how can you be involved in our Fruit Day on Sept 14?
- Plants for Fruit Day
- Message from our Jam, Jellies and Chutney Makers
- A recipe for Hot Apple Chutney
- Send us your stories and photos!
- Social Media Update
- Our Next Newsletter
Thanks to all our fruit donors this fortnight
We very much rely on our local community for donations of fruit and vegetables to either deliver to local charities or make into produce to sell at our Fruit Day (September 14). This fortnight, we sincerely thank Rufus, Chris, Patricia, Barbara, Robin, Anna and Jovita, Paul & Jean, Margaret, Rana, Linda, JB, Shirley and Lizzie for their donations.
Fruit Picking Update
Well done and thanks to Rosie, John, Juliet, Joan, Lesley, Auriel, Jane, Carole, Linda, Pam and Lucy. This fortnight our wonderful pickers have picked an incredible 216 kgs of fruit, made up of:
- Apples: 167 kgs
- Pears: 0.5kgs
- Plums: 85.5 kgs
- Damsons: 6.5 kgs
- Blackberries: 2 kgs
- Rhubarb: 3 kgs
- Redcurrants:1.5 kgs
What we delivered to our local charities this fortnight
Thank you to our fabulous delivery drivers who managed to deliver an amazing 71kgs of fruit to our local charities. Recipients included:
Wimbledon Guild (20 kgs)
Sunshine Recovery Cafe (21 kgs)
Age UK (14 kgs)
Merton and Morden Guild (7 kgs)
Faith in Action Drop In - (9 kgs)
Our best selling honey will be available again this year
Alison, our local bee keeper has sent us some fabulous photos of a frame of Martin Way honey ready for extraction. Alison believes that with boxes of honey frames like this it is a good year for Martin Way honey! Make sure you come along to Fruit Day on September 14 at St Mark's Church, Wimbledon to grab this local Martin Way honey from local bees. Photos: @CreativeCarole
Trees planted in 2009 bearing fruit
Our friend and committee member Linda recently sent in this photo of the apple trees located at the bottom on Wimbledon Hill. The story is that these trees were planted back in 2009 (as part of Transition Town Wimbledon) by our own Juliet Boyd and Stephen Alambritis. The trees were bought by John White, who sadly passed away recently. A fitting memorial to John.
Thanks to Linda for the photo - and of course Juliet for the memories.
Call for Action - how can you be involved in our Fruit Day on Sept 14?
Abundance Wimbledon are very lucky in that we have a team of dedicated volunteers who support us not only through the Summer picking season, but especially on our Fruit Day (Sept 14 this year). There are a number of things that you could be involved in - just email us at [email protected] if you have some spare time and are keen to be part of this great event! You will meet some awesome local people and learn lots about what goes in to making a plentiful Abundance Wimbledon season.
Our call to action!
We are always looking for people to help (wo)man our stalls so if you have some free time on either Friday September 13 (6.30pm - 8.30pm) or Saturday September 14 (all day) please let us know. We would love to have you as part of our team for either set up, set down or any time during the day for stalls or other activities. Below are some further ideas about how you can be involved:
Apple Pie Making - Donate apples for the apple pie stall - bring them to the hall on Friday 13th September between 6.30 and 8pm or on Saturday morning between 9 and 10.30am.
Fruit Pressing Stall - We are currently seeking helpers for the fruit pressing stall from 9.30am - 2.30pm (or any time in between) on Sat 14 Sept. You can also support the stall by donating apples for pressing - please bring them to the hall on Friday 13th September between 6.30 and 8pm or on Saturday morning between 9 and 10.30am.
Cakes and Bakes - Bake a cake and bring it to the hall on Friday 13th September between 6.30 and 8pm or on Saturday morning between 9 and 10.30am.
Jams, Chutneys and Fruit Preserves - Make jams and chutneys from your leftover fruit and veg or get in contact and we can supply you with some produce to make into jams, chutneys and fruit preserves.
Plants and Herbs - Donate plants for our plant stall - bring them to the hall on Friday 13th Sept between 6.30 and 8pm or on Saturday morning between 9 and 10.30am.
Don't forget - any proceeds from our Fruit Day support local charities and a special fruit tree planting project (at a local school) we are planning for 2019.
Plants for Fruit Day
Last year, the plant stall at Fruit Day sold a range of plants, mostly food related. We’d really appreciate donations of plants, especially fruit, herbs and other edible plants. So keep us in mind if you have too many of something, are planting up runners or sowing winter crops ... and please put in a few extra to donate to our stall!
Message from our Jam, Jellies and Chutney Makers
Our Jam, Jellies and Chutney makers have their pots and stoves at the ready and would be delighted to accept any fresh fruit and vegetables in their quest to make the best local jams, jellies and chutneys you have EVER tasted!
However, we can only do this with donations of fruit and vegetables from your garden or allotment and we would love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected] if you have any spare fruit or vegetables and we will get one of our wonderful team to come and collect it (or if you prefer a location where you can drop it off).. Don't forget that some of our best produce is delivered to local charities so you know that whatever the outcome, local people will be beneficiaries of your kindness.
Let's not waste a drop!
A recipe for Hot Apple Chutney
We collected an abundance of apples this fortnight so here is a great recipe for Hot Apple Chutney:
Hot apple chutney
(from The Perfect Pickle Book by David Mabey & David Collison)
2 lb (1kg) cooking apples, peeled, cored, sliced
1 tbsp salt
5 fl oz
(150ml) vegetable oil
1 inch (2.5cm) piece of root ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped
1 whole head of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp white mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds, soaked in water and drained
15 black peppercorns 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric 3 or 4 fresh green chillies, de-seeded and chopped
5 fl oz
(150ml) cider vinegar
4 (100g) oz sugar
Sprinkle the apples with salt and set aside in a colander. Fry the ginger and garlic gently until just brown. Add all the spices and fry for a few minutes, stirring well. Add the apples, vinegar and sugar and simmer over a low heat for about 30 minutes until the chutney has thickened and the apples are soft and pulpy. Pot as above. Keep for at least 3 months before opening, the longer the better.
Send us your stories and photos!
We know everyone is busy but if you have any photos or stories from your activities growing or picking fruit and vegetables, delivering to local charities or making jams, jellies and chutneys, please contact us on facebook, twitter, view our website or email our editor, Sally. This is YOUR newsletter and we are all about making Abundance Wimbledon accessible to all in our Merton community.
Feel free to pass on this newsletter to any friends or family that you have who you think would be interested in Abundance Wimbledon - we are a local group keen to involve everyone.
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Social Media Update
As you can see from the top of the newsletter, we have ramped up our social media presence. To keep up to date with all the latest news (which we will summarise in the newsletter) - please feel free to like us on facebook, follow us on twitter, view our website or email us if you have any questions. Just another way for us all to stay in touch!
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Our next newsletter
Keep an eye out for our next newsletter, an update on what has been picked, donated, cooked and bottled and of course more information about Abundance Wimbledon as we work towards our fabulous annual Fruit Day – this year on Saturday September 14, 11am – 2.30pm at St Mark’s Church, Wimbledon.
** To get in touch about any of the above, please just reply to this email **
Best wishes from us all
Juliet and the team at Abundance Wimbledon
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