The Symondsbury Apple Project: Fruit swap

This year the project launched the Fruit Swap. This novel idea is a way to get us all swapping produce, sharing in community apple pressing and appreciating the bounty of local fruit trees. The project was able to buy pressing equipment, provide extra training sessions and gain expert advice along with research into Symondsbury Orchards in the mid 19th Century.

Fruit Swap is supported by the EU and DEFRA funded Leader+ program, The Lottery funded SEED Program and The CO-OP Dividend Fund.

The first Fruit Swap was held at 'The Centre for Local Food'. People brought apples to press and took home juice for the freezer. Children and their parents made apple cakes in the kitchen and 15 hard working volunteers converted well over 100 kilos of apples into an estimated 60 litres of delicious juice.

Two fruit swap tables allowed people to swap their unwanted fruit or produce for someone else's. At the end of the day the red eating apples we started with had turned into marrows and runner beans, with a few satisfied customers in between. Definitely something to try again.

The Treewise toddler group were next to try out the presses. This was a very inspiring occasion. The children took part in each stage of the process; washing apples, turning the mill handle, and most importantly tasting the juice.

Through generous grants, presses, pasteurisers and dryers have been purchased and all these are available for apple project members to hire.

Mill and press can be hired out for £20 per day (9-5) plus £5 delivery charge, some basic instruction is given prior to the hire.

We spent a very leisurely morning washing, sorting, pressing and bottling and produced 30 litres for the freezer, from setting up to packing away was exactly 3 hours, well worth the effort.

What is the Fruit Swap Directory?
The directory is simply a way of formalising something that has always gone on. People share produce informally with neighbours friends and family or leave boxes outside their doors for passers-by.
This is a practice that naturally occurs amongst home growers and provides fresh food for little or no cost and helps gardeners get rid of their excess crops. However there is always room for more, more harvesting and more sharing, particularly with fruit trees which are often allowed drop their fruit because the owner is unable to pick them all.

How does it work?
Your contact details will appear along with your offers or needs and interested parties will contact you directly.
For example; we have a Bridport school in the directory, which would like to take their students out apple picking
So anyone with an orchard or a few trees in Bridport who would like some help at harvest time can invite the school along.
The project has piloted a juice sharing scheme. Using the project apple pressing equipment apples were harvested and pressed by people who don't have trees of their own. An agreed proportion of the juice was handed back to the owner of the trees; the rest was shared out amongst the apple pickers.
Apple project members are able to hire equipment to set up juice sharing.

What can I Swap?
Fruit Swapping can be extended to include all produce and a fruit Swap table in the village turned up squashes and marrows left in exchanged for dessert apples. Or how about Swapping preserves or cordials?

How do I get listed?
Just contact the Symondsbury Apple Project. If you don't want your contact details to appear the project will make links for you for a small fee. Otherwise it's free and open to all.

Where can I get a copy of the directory?
The directory will be published in the summer and updated during the harvesting season. It will be supported by Fruit Swap events. And available through local shops and at The Centre for Local Food.

www.foodandland.org
European Social Fund

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