Abundance Wimbledon Newsletter
August 17, 2021
Welcome to Abundance Wimbledon - 17 August 2021 Newsletter
We were so hopeful for a bumper year of fruit this year, but it has certainly been a slow start - directly attributable to the mild/wet weather.
Having said that, with warmer weather expected for the rest of this week and a late summer predicted for the rest of August and into September, we will be looking for as many volunteers as possible to ensure that we don't waste any fruit!
We have been keeping a close eye on the ripening blackberries throughout the local commons (particularly Wimbledon Common) and while there seems to be lots of berries on the bushes, they are still very green. We would be most appreciative of any efforts in picking and donating the blackberries. If you have a group of friends willing to do this with you - even better!
Similarly, the elderberries are also starting to ripen, and make a great addition to jams. Please let us know if you have any ready for donation.
Sue's Jam Making Masterclass was a hit, and the jam makers have been tempting us with many photos of their wonderful jams,. jellies, chutneys and cordials - all ready for Fruit Day on September 18.
We are still looking for a volunteer area coordinator for Raynes Park. Please contact Juliet at abundancewimbledon@gmail.com if you are able to help out.
Lots more happening locally - we have added in some information on events from a couple of groups - and don't forget to hunt around in your own garden - you might be surprised what you find!
A bumper issue this time so please read on for more of our latest news:
Save the date!
Abundance Wimbledon, 11th Annual Fruit Day
SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, 2021
11.00am - 2.30pm
St Mark's Church Hall & Grounds
St Mark's Pl, Wimbledon, London SW19 7ND
This year featuring:
Don't forget to pick up your Abundance Wimbledon Cotton Tote bag for just £2.00!
Sue's Jam Making Masterclass
Sue has once again hosted a Jam Making Masterclass - with a full complement of 6 enthusiastic Jam Makers! With freshly picked plums supplied by Liz and Adam, it was a great session and a perfect introduction to the home made plum jam which is one of our specialities. We have some great photos which we have uploaded to our website. Photos from Sue's June Masterclass are also available on our website.
Sue is now in full on jam making mode and with her amazing team of local jam makers are busy working hard at preparing many jars of jam, jellies, chutneys and cordials ready for Fruit Day.
We are sincerely hoping that Sue will be available for more Masterclasses in 2022!
How do you weigh all the pickings?
As demonstrated cleverly here by our wonderful Jane, the best way to weigh our pickings is with a hand held weight gadget. I can't actually read the measurement of the apples weighed this time - bit a great haul of apples ready for our charities or jam makers! Thanks Jane.
Jam Jar fun!
We always get a bit of a giggle when one of our fantastic jam jar collector drops off his haul each year - we do love the little messages which bring a smile to our dial. Thanks for the photo Sue!
So how much Fruit has been picked already this season?
Mindful that the weather has not been kind (in that we need some warmer weather for the fruit to ripen!) our wonderful team of pickers have already rescued more than 280kg of fruit! This is an incredible effort and includes: apples, plums (a number of varieties), rhubarb, mixed berries and blackcurrants.
Thank you so much to our dedicated pickers who have been out in all weathers - and been caught in the rain more than once!: Liz, Adam, Bryony, Linda, Juliet, Motoki, Jane, Angela, John, Jane, Carole, Ian, Karoline, Ian and Hugo.
Thanks to all our donors!
We could not do everything that we do in rescuing fruit without the generosity of our Fruit Donors! So far this year, we have enjoyed fruit from Allison, Lesley, Juliet, Linda, Barbara, John, Louise and Liz. Sincere thanks to you all for your kindness.
We have also been out picking fruit from local street trees, as well as from Colliers Wood Recreation Ground and Durnsford Park Recreation Ground. We are always on the look out for other community locations so please let us know if you see trees with an abundance of fruit which you think will be available for our pickers.
Which local charities have received your fruit?
An important part of what we do at Abundance Wimbledon is to donate good fruit to local charities. As an example, some charities prefer "eaters" which go direct to their clients, while other groups are happy to accept "cookers" - fruit best used for cooking (may be marked in some way). So far this year, we have donated 25kgs of fruit to local charities, including: If you are part of a local charity keen to receive some of our pickings, please contact Juliet at abundancewimbledon@gmail.com.
What is your Fruit Rescue Target for 2021?
Our biggest year for fruit rescue was in 2017 with a whopping 2,916kgs - yes - almost 3 tonnes (and an impressive 1,000kgs more than the next closest rescue in 2019 (1,910 kgs)! Last year - in a Covid-19 restriction and social isolation and distancing environment we managed a creditable 1,593 kgs - down only 300kgs on 2019. Since we started in 2011, we have averaged 1,697 kgs per year across our 10 years.
So, given the late season and ripening of Fruit (and having time to not just pick fruit but deliver donations, cut apples for the fresh apple juice and of course make our jams, jellies, chutneys, cordials, pies, cakes and bakes), we are hoping for an ambitious, slightly above average target of 1,800kgs. We have 1,500 kgs to go so are welcoming all volunteers to help us achieve our target!
You can help us achieve our target and become involved in the following ways and by emailing Juliet at abundancewimbledon@gmail.com)
Bryony's favourite Apple Cake Recipe
Our Bryony has a favourite Apple Cake Recipe - perfect for using up any spare apples. Bryony can attest to its taste - having made one just last week. A perfect cake to share.
Wholemeal Apple Cake
Makes 1 large cake
160g dark muscavodo sugar
200g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
150g plain yogurt
250g wholemeal flour (might be good with half and half)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
Good grating of nutmeg
2 tbsp demerara sugar
4 unpeeled apples
Butter and line a large (900g) cake tin. Heat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and
fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one. Add vanilla and yogurt and mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon
and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated.
Grate three unpeeled apples (about 375g) and fold into the cake mixture.
Scrape into your prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Peel and slice the
remaining apple and arrange on top of the cake. Sprinkle with demerara sugar
and bake about 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Source: Claire Ptak in the Guardian
Guess what I found in my garden?
I was hunting around my garden last weekend and guess what I found? A plum tree, an Elderberry plant (or 3), a Quince tree and some blackberries!
What do you have in your garden that you didn't realise? I'd love some comments and photos of your findings! Do you have any spare fruit that requires picking and that Abundance Wimbledon can redistribute to local charities? If so, please contact Juliet at abundancewimbledon#gmail.com
I will be picking the elderberries as soon as they ripen and pass them on to Sue to make some of her very popular jams with Elderberry flavouring. The plums are a bit scarce so not sure we will have any excess of those, but the quinces and blackberries are perfect for our volunteers so will be passed on.
A message from the Centre for Ageing Better
"The Centre for Ageing Better, is a charity working to improve later lives. Ahead of COP26 and the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, we're exploring the theme of 'Older and Greener: Tackling the climate emergency together'.
As part of this, we’re keen to capture some photographs that fall under this theme, primarily showing people aged 50 and over. The photos will be added to our library of age-positive images, which is a resource available to anyone for free and was created to help combat negative stereotypes of later life.
We’d be incredibly grateful if you’re able to help us with finding individuals or opportunities that we can photograph in August or September. You can of course use the photos in your communications once we capture those, and our photographers are happy to travel to most areas around London and Greater Manchester.
In terms of subjects we’d like to cover, we’re interested in anything that fits the theme of tackling the climate emergency, no matter how broad or abstract – these can be portraits of people who are activists in their local area or people who are reducing their carbon footprint through small actions."
To be involved, please email
Merton Council is Supporting Play Streets - 19th and 26th September
Merton Council will be supporting Play Streets on Sunday 19th and Sunday 26th September in honour of World Car Free Day (Wednesday 22nd September), and Merton's Climate Action Group is looking to encourage and support Merton's residents to promote wider climate action as part of their Play Street events. This may be an opportunity to link up with other like-minded organisations as well. Please see this web page for more details.
To help make this happen, the Climate Action Group is looking to:
Identify and approach relevant potential projects/initiatives addressing climate change in the borough to see if they would be interested in having a presence at a Car Free Street so that they can link these up with streets that are interested in showcasing climate action; and Promote the Car Free Street Days to encourage streets to sign up and to hopefully incorporate climate action in their play street plans.
If you are interested in getting involved, or showcasing any of your work, please contact the Climate Action Group community leads for Transport at cag.transportmerton@gmail.com.
Our next newsletter
Our newsletters will be regularly emailed from now until the end of the season - Fruit Day on September 18.
Feel free to send any news to our editor - Sally at sjohanns@bigpond.net.au.
** To get in touch about any of the above information, please just reply to this email **
Best wishes and sincere thanks from us all
Juliet and the team at Abundance Wimbledon
We were so hopeful for a bumper year of fruit this year, but it has certainly been a slow start - directly attributable to the mild/wet weather.
Having said that, with warmer weather expected for the rest of this week and a late summer predicted for the rest of August and into September, we will be looking for as many volunteers as possible to ensure that we don't waste any fruit!
We have been keeping a close eye on the ripening blackberries throughout the local commons (particularly Wimbledon Common) and while there seems to be lots of berries on the bushes, they are still very green. We would be most appreciative of any efforts in picking and donating the blackberries. If you have a group of friends willing to do this with you - even better!
Similarly, the elderberries are also starting to ripen, and make a great addition to jams. Please let us know if you have any ready for donation.
Sue's Jam Making Masterclass was a hit, and the jam makers have been tempting us with many photos of their wonderful jams,. jellies, chutneys and cordials - all ready for Fruit Day on September 18.
We are still looking for a volunteer area coordinator for Raynes Park. Please contact Juliet at abundancewimbledon@gmail.com if you are able to help out.
Lots more happening locally - we have added in some information on events from a couple of groups - and don't forget to hunt around in your own garden - you might be surprised what you find!
A bumper issue this time so please read on for more of our latest news:
- Save the date!
- Sue's Jam Making Masterclass
- How do you weigh all the pickings?
- Jam Jar fun!
- So how much Fruit has been picked already this season?
- Thanks to all our donors!
- Which local charities have received your fruit?
- What is your Fruit Rescue Target for 2021?
- Bryony's favourite Apple Cake Recipe
- Guess what I found in my garden?
- A message from the Centre for Ageing Better
- Merton Council is Supporting Play Streets - 19th and 26th September
- Our next newsletter
Save the date!
Abundance Wimbledon, 11th Annual Fruit Day
SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, 2021
11.00am - 2.30pm
St Mark's Church Hall & Grounds
St Mark's Pl, Wimbledon, London SW19 7ND
This year featuring:
- Opening by Merton Mayor Cr Michael Brunt
- Home made Jams, Chutneys, Cordials and Butters stall
- Home made Bakes and Cakes stall
- Freshly Squeezed Apple Juice (have a go at the manual press!)
- Local Honey stall by Alison (Cash only)
- Plant stall
- Coffee Van
- Children's activities (Cash only)
- About Abundance Wimbledon
- Merton Friends of the Earth
- Sustainable Merton
- Merton U3A
- Performances by Songs on Wheels
- Performances by Ukulele Orchestra
Don't forget to pick up your Abundance Wimbledon Cotton Tote bag for just £2.00!
Sue's Jam Making Masterclass
Sue has once again hosted a Jam Making Masterclass - with a full complement of 6 enthusiastic Jam Makers! With freshly picked plums supplied by Liz and Adam, it was a great session and a perfect introduction to the home made plum jam which is one of our specialities. We have some great photos which we have uploaded to our website. Photos from Sue's June Masterclass are also available on our website.
Sue is now in full on jam making mode and with her amazing team of local jam makers are busy working hard at preparing many jars of jam, jellies, chutneys and cordials ready for Fruit Day.
We are sincerely hoping that Sue will be available for more Masterclasses in 2022!
How do you weigh all the pickings?
As demonstrated cleverly here by our wonderful Jane, the best way to weigh our pickings is with a hand held weight gadget. I can't actually read the measurement of the apples weighed this time - bit a great haul of apples ready for our charities or jam makers! Thanks Jane.
Jam Jar fun!
We always get a bit of a giggle when one of our fantastic jam jar collector drops off his haul each year - we do love the little messages which bring a smile to our dial. Thanks for the photo Sue!
So how much Fruit has been picked already this season?
Mindful that the weather has not been kind (in that we need some warmer weather for the fruit to ripen!) our wonderful team of pickers have already rescued more than 280kg of fruit! This is an incredible effort and includes: apples, plums (a number of varieties), rhubarb, mixed berries and blackcurrants.
Thank you so much to our dedicated pickers who have been out in all weathers - and been caught in the rain more than once!: Liz, Adam, Bryony, Linda, Juliet, Motoki, Jane, Angela, John, Jane, Carole, Ian, Karoline, Ian and Hugo.
Thanks to all our donors!
We could not do everything that we do in rescuing fruit without the generosity of our Fruit Donors! So far this year, we have enjoyed fruit from Allison, Lesley, Juliet, Linda, Barbara, John, Louise and Liz. Sincere thanks to you all for your kindness.
We have also been out picking fruit from local street trees, as well as from Colliers Wood Recreation Ground and Durnsford Park Recreation Ground. We are always on the look out for other community locations so please let us know if you see trees with an abundance of fruit which you think will be available for our pickers.
Which local charities have received your fruit?
An important part of what we do at Abundance Wimbledon is to donate good fruit to local charities. As an example, some charities prefer "eaters" which go direct to their clients, while other groups are happy to accept "cookers" - fruit best used for cooking (may be marked in some way). So far this year, we have donated 25kgs of fruit to local charities, including: If you are part of a local charity keen to receive some of our pickings, please contact Juliet at abundancewimbledon@gmail.com.
What is your Fruit Rescue Target for 2021?
Our biggest year for fruit rescue was in 2017 with a whopping 2,916kgs - yes - almost 3 tonnes (and an impressive 1,000kgs more than the next closest rescue in 2019 (1,910 kgs)! Last year - in a Covid-19 restriction and social isolation and distancing environment we managed a creditable 1,593 kgs - down only 300kgs on 2019. Since we started in 2011, we have averaged 1,697 kgs per year across our 10 years.
So, given the late season and ripening of Fruit (and having time to not just pick fruit but deliver donations, cut apples for the fresh apple juice and of course make our jams, jellies, chutneys, cordials, pies, cakes and bakes), we are hoping for an ambitious, slightly above average target of 1,800kgs. We have 1,500 kgs to go so are welcoming all volunteers to help us achieve our target!
You can help us achieve our target and become involved in the following ways and by emailing Juliet at abundancewimbledon@gmail.com)
- Fruit donors
- Fruit pickers (and distributors)
- Charities requiring fruit
- Jam. chutney and cordial makers
- Raynes Park North Coordinator
- Cake, bake and pie maker (close to Fruit Day)
- Volunteers for Fruit Day (September 18, 2021)
Bryony's favourite Apple Cake Recipe
Our Bryony has a favourite Apple Cake Recipe - perfect for using up any spare apples. Bryony can attest to its taste - having made one just last week. A perfect cake to share.
Wholemeal Apple Cake
Makes 1 large cake
160g dark muscavodo sugar
200g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
150g plain yogurt
250g wholemeal flour (might be good with half and half)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
Good grating of nutmeg
2 tbsp demerara sugar
4 unpeeled apples
Butter and line a large (900g) cake tin. Heat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and
fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one. Add vanilla and yogurt and mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon
and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated.
Grate three unpeeled apples (about 375g) and fold into the cake mixture.
Scrape into your prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Peel and slice the
remaining apple and arrange on top of the cake. Sprinkle with demerara sugar
and bake about 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Source: Claire Ptak in the Guardian
Guess what I found in my garden?
I was hunting around my garden last weekend and guess what I found? A plum tree, an Elderberry plant (or 3), a Quince tree and some blackberries!
What do you have in your garden that you didn't realise? I'd love some comments and photos of your findings! Do you have any spare fruit that requires picking and that Abundance Wimbledon can redistribute to local charities? If so, please contact Juliet at abundancewimbledon#gmail.com
I will be picking the elderberries as soon as they ripen and pass them on to Sue to make some of her very popular jams with Elderberry flavouring. The plums are a bit scarce so not sure we will have any excess of those, but the quinces and blackberries are perfect for our volunteers so will be passed on.
A message from the Centre for Ageing Better
"The Centre for Ageing Better, is a charity working to improve later lives. Ahead of COP26 and the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, we're exploring the theme of 'Older and Greener: Tackling the climate emergency together'.
As part of this, we’re keen to capture some photographs that fall under this theme, primarily showing people aged 50 and over. The photos will be added to our library of age-positive images, which is a resource available to anyone for free and was created to help combat negative stereotypes of later life.
We’d be incredibly grateful if you’re able to help us with finding individuals or opportunities that we can photograph in August or September. You can of course use the photos in your communications once we capture those, and our photographers are happy to travel to most areas around London and Greater Manchester.
In terms of subjects we’d like to cover, we’re interested in anything that fits the theme of tackling the climate emergency, no matter how broad or abstract – these can be portraits of people who are activists in their local area or people who are reducing their carbon footprint through small actions."
To be involved, please email
Merton Council is Supporting Play Streets - 19th and 26th September
Merton Council will be supporting Play Streets on Sunday 19th and Sunday 26th September in honour of World Car Free Day (Wednesday 22nd September), and Merton's Climate Action Group is looking to encourage and support Merton's residents to promote wider climate action as part of their Play Street events. This may be an opportunity to link up with other like-minded organisations as well. Please see this web page for more details.
To help make this happen, the Climate Action Group is looking to:
Identify and approach relevant potential projects/initiatives addressing climate change in the borough to see if they would be interested in having a presence at a Car Free Street so that they can link these up with streets that are interested in showcasing climate action; and Promote the Car Free Street Days to encourage streets to sign up and to hopefully incorporate climate action in their play street plans.
If you are interested in getting involved, or showcasing any of your work, please contact the Climate Action Group community leads for Transport at cag.transportmerton@gmail.com.
Our next newsletter
Our newsletters will be regularly emailed from now until the end of the season - Fruit Day on September 18.
Feel free to send any news to our editor - Sally at sjohanns@bigpond.net.au.
** To get in touch about any of the above information, please just reply to this email **
Best wishes and sincere thanks from us all
Juliet and the team at Abundance Wimbledon
