Abundance Wimbledon Newsletter
26 August 2019



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26 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 looking at a record in terms of rescued fruit and vegetables - more than 845 kgs so far this year (almost 27% - 227 kgs - of which have been donated to local charities).  We are all ready for a successful Fruit Day on September 14.  Read on to find out how you can support this great local initiative by being a picker, jam/chutney maker or a volunteer for our Fruit Day.  This fortnight's update is below so happy reading.

Topics this fortnight include:
Thanks to all our fruit and vegetable 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 Ron & June, Helen, Chris, Nicola, Fara, Pippa, Maryrose, St James’s Church, Adam, Mavis, Margaret and Craig for their donations.

Fruit Picking Update
Well done and thanks to Gilli, Brian, Ron, June, Mary-Jane, Cherry, Caroline, Sarah, Maggie, Joan, Adam, Liz, Chris, Bryony, Lucy, Juliet and Joyce.  This fortnight our wonderful pickers have more than doubled last fortnight's pickings (216) and picked an incredible 522 kgs of fruit, made up of:
  • Apples:  391 kgs
  • Pears:  31 kgs
  • Plums:  97 kgs
  • Greengages:  3kgs
- making our total so far this season 845 kgs of rescued fruit!

What we delivered to our local charities this fortnight
Thank you to our fabulous delivery drivers who managed to deliver an amazing 227 kgs of fruit to our local charities.  Recipients included:
Wimbledon Guild (20 kgs)
YMCA (17 kgs)
Sunshine Recovery Cafe (28 kgs)
Age UK (34 kgs)
Merton and Morden Guild (7 kgs)
Faith in Action Drop In - (74 kgs)
New Horizon, Commonside Community Trust (20 kgs)
Lee House (27 kgs)

Putting the magnificent Martin Way Honey into Jars
Alison, our local bee keeper has sent us some fabulous photos of jarring the runny honey which has been settling in the honey storage tank to allow air bubbles to escape/settle.  Alison then opens the tap at the bottom of the tank and pours the required amount of honey into the jar. They are labelled according to weight, using a tamper label plus label with honey details. That is about it - Martin Way Honey is ready to go! 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 have been sent through by Radhika.  Alison is in the last photo.

A story about being a volunteer for Abundance Wimbledon
Many of you know that we have a fantastic group of volunteers who allow us to pick and use fruit that would otherwise go to waste.  So this fortnight, I thought I would tell you a little story about what it really means and the commitment our volunteers make... It is the story of Carole and Sue.  

On Friday last week, Carole sent out a message that she had an abundance of apples that weren't good enough to donate (or for eating), but would be great for chutney.  Did anyone have a use for them?  Well Sue got back to Carole and said that she would happily take them but was away - back Sunday.  The next part of this story is truly about team work.  Carole dropped off the apples to Sue, then stayed to help chop up all the apples, ready for the chutney making (see photo at right).  Sue made all the chutney and then sent the photos through.  They had a lovely day together and it was not just about the chutney making!  Fantastic effort by both ladies.  This fresh, home made chutney will be available on our Fruit Day on September 14. 

Need for fruit pickers - Martin Way allotments (a message from Alison)
Hi all, just in case any volunteer pickers are either near my allotments at Martin Way (SW20 9BS) or can get there easily....I am short of pickers for my usual apple trees as I have not heard back from my usual picker. So my trees are dropping apples all over! They are mostly eaters. If anyone can help out do please email me or text/call (better still) on 07946 759 551 or pass this on to other suitable pickers. Even if pickers cannot take apples to a charity they can pass them around to friends....!!
Let's not waste these beautiful apples!

Apples anyone?
We have lots of cooking and eating apples to give away. There are apple collection points in Ashen Grove SW19, Lancaster Gardens SW19 and Vineyard Hill Road SW19. 
 
Please get in touch with [email protected] or via [email protected] - and we’ll give you the details of exactly where and when. Then you can come and help yourself!
 
Call for Action - More volunteers, jams and cakes needed for Fruit Day!
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 bake a pie and bring 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 - Rosie - our cake stall lady would love you to 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 vegetables 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. 

Is your allotment overflowing with vegetables?
Abundance Wimbledon is not just about our amazing jams and jellies - we love making an assortment of chutneys too!  Do you have any spare vegetables to donate - anything from courgettes to tomatoes?  We will happily pass them on to our chutney makers ready to make a greater assortment for our Fruit Day!

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! 

Here's a recipe for Courgette Chutney!
We are hoping to up our vegetable chutney stocks for Fruit Day (September 14), so here is a recipe I found for Courgette Chutney from the All Recipes UK website.  I am thinking I might even make this one myself!

Courgette Chutney
Prep:30min  ›  Cook:45min  ›  Ready in:1hr15min
  • 1 kg courgette
  • 1 tart apple, peeled and cored
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 250g dark brown soft sugar
  • 250ml white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh root ginger
  • 1 tablespoon English mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red chilli flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
 
  1. Peel courgette and discard any large seeds; chop into small pieces.
  2. Finely chop apple, onion and green pepper; place in a casserole along with courgette and remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, over medium heat until thick, about 45 to 55 minutes, stirring often. Cool. Ladle into jars; cover and refrigerate.

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
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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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