Abundance Wimbledon Newsletter
7 September 2020

Welcome to Abundance Wimbledon - 7 September 2020

The cool weather has been a welcome break for our pickers, and of course our jam, chutney and cordial makers are now coming into their own!  We will have our usual fantastic array of locally made produce available for Fruit Day on 19 September (including our freshly squeezed apple juice) so we are looking forward to greeting our visitors.

..and we are delighted to announce that the ever popular Ukulele Orchestra will return this year!  They will be playing 3 sets during the day.  Plenty of toe-tapping music to enjoy as a backdrop to our day!

Read on for some great information on what has been happening  this season (and of course all the opportunities still available!).
Fruit Day - Saturday 19 September 2020, 11am - 2.30pm St Marks Church Hall, St Mark's Place (enter via Compton Road), Wimbledon SW19 7ND

We have determined (and very excited to confirm!) that it will be safe to continue our 10th Annual Fruit Day (Covid Compliant) activities under the following guidelines (as safety measures for all):
  • Entry via Compton Road only
  • Social distancing rules will apply
  • Masks necessary (for inside).  Most stalls will be outside.
  • One-way route through our stalls
  • Card payments are available (although we are limited to 2 machines - thank you Love Wimbledon)
  • Many stalls will be taking cash payments
You will notice that there are opportunities to buy our locally made produce (jams, chutneys, cordials, apple juice, cakes, honey and biscuits), but, based on government guidelines, we have had to reduce some of our activities (although as it is a family day, we are still planning something for the children).  We are convinced that all guests to our Fruit Day will experience the same friendly, fun atmosphere that has been in the past.  This is a great opportunity to support your local community as we raise funds (through sales) which are donated to local charities.

We are all about safety - both for our volunteers and visitors and welcome our community to our special event!

Thankyou Joyce
In January of this year, one of our co-founders Joyce Pountain moved to Glasgow, leaving behind many friends at Abundance Wimbledon.  We did have a small celebration for Joyce, but until now, we have not properly and publicly thanked Joyce for her foresight, wisdom and commitment to Abundance Wimbledon since 2011.  So Joyce, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou from all of us!
(Joyce is pictured on the left in the photo above)

Its our birthday!
In 2011, Joyce Pountain visited Abundance Chiswick and, supported by good friends Juliet, Joyce (from Transition Town Wimbledon), Daphne (from St Mark’s Church), DeNica (from Wimbledon Park Residents’ Association) and Jo (from the John Innes Society Gardening Group) got together to start an Abundance project in Wimbledon in 2011.  Since that day, and with more volunteers joining us each year, Abundance Wimbledon has grown in size and have been committed to rescuing local fruit and vegetables and distributing it (and the profits from our Fruit Day) to local Charities.

In 2020 Abundance Wimbledon celebrates 10 years of rescuing local fruit and vegetables.  Happy birthday to us!
 
What's been picked, from where and by whom?
This is a photo of some apples and crab apples - we had our first pick of crab apples for the season in the last fortnight!  So, our totals for the last fortnight are:

Apples: 412 kgs
Pears: 142 kgs
Crab Apples: 11kgs
Plums: 11kgs

Making an amazing total of 535 kgs of saved fruit this fortnight!

Our total for this season is now 1,380 kgs of saved fruit!

Sincere thanks to all our donors:
Jen, Mavis, Jo, Ray, Val, Tom, Leila, Greg, Bob, Ron, June, Chris, Bronwen, Carmel, Ann, Martin Way Allotments, Alison, Robyn, Linda, Anne, Faye, Pippa, Marie, Jan, Mary and Nisha

Thanks also to our amazing pickers:
Jane, Ian, Liz, Mary-Jane, Bryony, Alyson, Melanie, Joan, Tom, Adam, Gilli, Brian, Chris, Cherry, Juliet, Motoko, James, Edward, Alison, Ruth, Mary, Nisha and Rosie.

This fortnight, the following organisations received donations from us: So far this fortnight, we donated more than 200kgs of fruit to local Charities. The total donated so far this year is 548kgs!

The rest of the fruit is sent to our teams of jam, chutney, jelly and cordial makers who are hard at work producing great products for our Fruit Day.

If you know a local charity who would be interested in receiving some of the picked fruit - please let us know.  We generally have a large abundance of what we call "cooking" apples - not necessarily great to eat but perfect for apple pies and cakes.  With many charities cooking meals for the most vulnerable in these Covid-19 times, we are keen to ensure that these apples (and any other fresh produce) does not go to waste.  Please email us at [email protected] with their details.

Growing plants for Fruit Day
Last year, the plant stall at Fruit Day sold a range of plants, mostly food related. We’d really welcome 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!

Sue's Dorset Apple Tray bake
450g cooking apples (such as Bramley)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
225g butter, softened
280g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
350g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
demerara sugar, to sprinkle
 
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
  1. Butter and line a rectangular baking tin (approx 27cm x 20cm) with parchment paper.
  2. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples then squeeze the lemon juice over. Set to one side.
  3. Place the butter, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and mix well until smooth.
  4. Spread half the mixture into the prepared tin.
  5. Arrange half the apples over the top of the mixture, then repeat the layers.
  6. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar. 
Bake for 45-50 mins until golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool for 10 mins, then turn out of tin and remove paper. Cut into bars or squares.

Enjoy!

Can you volunteer to support Fruit Day on 19 September?
We are looking for:
  • Stall volunteers
  • Set up volunteers
  • Pack up volunteers
  • Cake makers
  • Plants for our plant stall
If you have some skills (they're multiplying!) and time available, please contact us.

Find our Fruit Day listed with the following:
Sincere thanks to the following who have listed information about us and/or about our 10th Annual Fruit Day on their site:
Our next newsletter
Due in two weeks!  Feel free to send any news to our editor - Sally at [email protected].

** To get in touch about any of the above, please just reply to this email **

Best wishes and sincere thanks from us all

Juliet and the team at Abundance Wimbledon
 
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