HAMILTON FRUIT TREE PROJECT

The Last Apple Canning of 2011

2011-12-08T14:58:00.001-05:00

Today we spent our morning at the Porteguese Support Services on Barton St canning apples. We had a wonderful time, everyone was extremely nice, and they even fed us lunch! Everything got done quite quickly because of all the helpful people. It was the perfect way to use up the apples we had from Williams' farm.

Canning apples

2011-11-24T21:26:00.004-05:00

While Fruit Tree has officially wrapped up for 2011, we are still dabbling here and there with canning / preserving workshops.

At the request of the Strathcona Neighbourhood Council, we gathered at Erskine Presbyterian Church and canned some apples.

Thanks to Dawn for organizing this event and for Erskine Church for letting us use their commercial kitchen.

Been Involved? We'd LOVE your feedback!

2011-11-18T12:12:00.002-05:00

Hey there, if you have come out to events, or have let us pick from you, we would love to hear from you. We have a scrapbook for The Fruit Tree Project in the works and we'd love all of the info we can get.

Here are a couple questions that you can answer:

What attracted you to the Hamilton Fruit Tree Project?

What was your favourite / most memorable time?

Or, if you have other comments you can write up whatever you like.

Thanks a bunch, and we really look forward to hearing from you!

All emails can be sent to Kirsten, at kdobler@environmenthamilton.org
By Thursday December 8th, 2011.

Last Harvest of the Year!

2011-11-12T21:32:00.001-05:00

It was a perfect day to spend outdoors, harvesting apples for Hamilton FoodShare.
The sun was shining and the air crisp at Williams Orchards in Milton, ON.

It was the last day of harvesting for Hamilton Fruit Tree Project, Hamilton FoodShare and Halton Fruit Tree Project and what a way to end the season - we harvested 7,000+ lbs of Ira Reds and Empires with the help and hard work of our amazing volunteers!

A huge thank you to Williams Orchards and farmers Elgin and Sandra (pictured below is Elgin) for their generosity - they even welcomed us into their homes as we broke bread ( roti, actually) for lunch.

Thank you to our partners, Hamilton FoodShare and Halton Fruit Tree Project - it was great to work together over the harvesting season and we look forward to 2012!

A big thank you to our volunteers who come out and work hard - always inspiring!

Hamilton Fruit Tree will be back in 2012.

Apple picking this Saturday

2011-11-10T19:35:00.003-05:00

We are gearing up for our last pick of the year. Partnering with Hamilton FoodShare and Halton Fruit Tree Project, we are heading to Milton to harvest apples - talk about community partnerships!

Bushels of Onions!

2011-11-10T09:52:00.002-05:00

Monday was a great day to shuck eight bushels of onions at Our Fathers Farm.

Fatima and Kirsten hard at work!

Thanks to Hamilton FoodShare and Our Fathers' Farm.

Apples at Dundurn

2011-10-17T10:23:00.002-04:00

Thursday in the late afternoon we set out to Dundurn Castle to do some picking on the row of apple trees they have there. It wasn't the sunniest day, but we had a great turn out and everyone had a good time. We picked from four different trees and collected about 210 lbs. Thank you to everyone who came out after work and school to pick with us!

2.5 hours + 4 volunteers = 52 bushels of green peppers

2011-10-14T17:19:00.005-04:00

Volunteer Elysia showing off her perfect pepper.

Peter Piper may have picked a peck of pickled peppers but we harvested 52 bushels of green peppers today.

Despite the rain and wind (and precious moments of sunlight) we were at Our Fathers Farm, Dundas, harvesting green peppers as part of Hamilton FoodShare's "Community Harvest".

Big thanks to our volunteers who worked hard and without complaint as the day got colder and we got muddier.

Thanks to Hamilton FoodShare and Our Fathers' Farm.

Apples on the Weekend

2011-10-13T09:09:00.003-04:00

Saturday morning, the Hamilton Katimavik group set out to pick apples along with the Halton Fruit Tree Project. It was a beautiful day to pick the three rows of trees, with the many volunteers that came out. In total, almost 600 lbs of apples were picked. More than enough to fit in the back of van that was taking them away, and leave some for the owners of the orchard.

Onions!

2011-10-07T14:19:00.002-04:00

This lovely morning Kirsten, Fatima, and Aiyana, along with the crew from Our Father's Farm harvested rows of onions. They managed to pick eight rows, and filled about thirty baskets full.

Lots and lots of onions!

A full day of apples and corn

2011-10-05T14:53:00.002-04:00

Monday, we began our day at Cumis in their beautiful orchard for the 20th Annual Apple Day where we harvested 8 boxes (approx. 75 lbs) of Red Delicious, and MacIntosh apples. It was a very well organized event, and we had a great time working along side one of their very helpful employees!

Photographed: Our group hard at work.

The second half of our day was spent at Parkside Farms gleening corn with Fatima from Hamilton Food Share where we picked 1300 lbs of corn.

Photographed: New Katimavik Intern, Kirsten, and the corn field at Parkside Farms.

A big thanks to Cumis, and to Farmer Ben at Parkside Farms for welcoming us to pick their delicious apples and corn! Also, thanks go out to Hamilton Food Share for picking up and distributing our pickings.

What a "Grape" weekend!

2011-09-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, we had back to back grape picks.

While the majority of the white, red and purple grapes went to Mission Services, today we held a "juicing" workshop for some of the kids at Robert Land Community Association in their after school program. We juiced the grapes and the kids loved it! It is so exciting to see kids trying new things and being open to tasting real juice!

Big thanks to all our volunteers that helped us pick grapes, vine owners for letting us come and harvest, volunteers at Robert Land and to Robert Land for letting us come and run our workshop.

Tomatoes

2011-09-14T17:42:00.000-04:00

It was deja-vu today, as we harvested roma tomatoes from Our Fathers' Farm, Dundas, ON. It was a perfect day with the sun shining and a cool breeze to keep us energized as we harvested 36 bushels today.

Pictured - Fatima (Hamilton FoodShare) and her almost three year old daughter.

Lets hope that the frost holds off as there are still plenty of tomatoes in the fields.

Thanks again to our volunteers who worked madly, Douglas - farmhand, Our Fathers' Farm and Hamilton FoodShare.

Apples!

2011-09-14T17:36:00.000-04:00

We are officially in our busy season!

We harvested over 1,000 lbs of apples on Saturday and Monday alone. Thanks to our volunteers and homeowners on Carpenter Avenue and Lister Avenue.

And the picks continue!

"To-Mate-o"? "Toe-mato?"

2011-09-03T07:12:00.002-04:00

How ever you pronounce it, there is a lot of it at Our Fathers Farm, Dundas, ON.

In partnership with Ontario Food Bank Association and Hamilton FoodShare, Our Fathers Farm planted tomatoes and onions for foodbanks and all this week Fruit Tree volunteers have been busy harvesting cherry and roma tomatoes.

Thank you to worker, Douglas for guiding us and harvesting alongside us as we harvested (Pictured - top photo)

Thanks to Fatima for organizing the pick and Douglas for keeping us on track!
Many thanks to our volunteers who have been harvesting all week long - we could not do this without you all!

It was a corn fest at todays pick!

2011-08-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

Have you eaten raw corn straight from the field? We have! And its tasty! A refreshing sweet treat when out on a hot day, picking corn.

Sam C takes a break to munch on some sweet corn.

Partnering with Hamilton FoodShare, volunteers went out to Jarvis, ON to harvest corn for foodbanks across the City. After three hours of harvesting, we picked 3,000+ of corn that headed straight to FoodShare for distribution.

Shout outs to Fatima at FoodShare, Art the farmer, Josh the helper and all our volunteers!

More picks throughout Hamilton and rural areas are in the works, to be added to the Fruit Tree Project's Volunteer List, email Juby at jlee(at)environmenthamilton(dot)org

Fruit Tree is partnering with FoodShare

2011-08-29T19:12:00.000-04:00

This year, we have partnered with FoodShare to help glean fresh produce from farmers fields.
For example, Our Fathers Farm has planted and weeded tomatoes and onions that Fruit Tree volunteers are helping to harvest and all the produce harvested will go straight to foodbanks that welcome the fresh produce.
We are thrilled to connect with FoodShare and help in anyway that we can.

Many thanks to Small Change Fund and its donors!

2011-07-26T15:57:00.001-04:00

We would like to extend our gratitude to Small Change Fund and its supporters, who have come through for the Fruit Tree Project in a big way. The final tally is in: donors have used the website to give Fruit Tree a total of $2161!

Our success story is up on the site, which means that Fruit Tree will now make way for other cultural and environmental grassroots organizations across the country to benefit from the small change of their supporters.

Check out the thank-you video from Fruit Tree coordinator Juby Lee:

Recipe: Sour Cherry Jam

2011-07-07T09:45:00.005-04:00

It's sour cherry season for fruit tree owners!

Whether they're picked by you or by our Fruit Tree volunteers, here's how to make good use of the sour cherries from your tree.

Sour Cherry Jam

Ingredients:

3 qt (3L) Ontario Sour Cherries

1 box (49g) light fruit pectin crystals

3 ¼ cups (800 mL) granulated sugar, divided

Grated orange rind or chopped ginger in syrup

Preparation:

Pit cherries and finely chop to make 5 cups (1.25 L); leave a few pitted cherries whole, if desired. Place cherries in large heavy metal saucepan. Combine pectin crystals with ¼ cup (50 mL) of the sugar; slowly add to prepared fruit. Cook and stir over high heat until mixture comes to full rolling boil. Stir in remaining sugar. Return to full rolling boil, stirring constantly; boil rapidly; stirring, for 1 min. Remove from heat. Stir and skim for 5 min. Addgrated orange rind or chopped ginger in syrup to taste. Pour into warm sterilized jars leaving ¼ in. (5 mm) headspace. Seal with 2 piece metal lids and process in boiling water bath using pectin manufacturer's directions.

Makes 6 cups (1.5 L)

Thanks to Foodland Ontario for the recipe.

We are back!

2011-05-16T14:05:00.001-04:00

Fruit Tree Project is up and running for 2011!
We cannot wait to get out there and start harvesting and canning.
The picking starts in June and will last until November.
Stay tuned for updates and events.

Thank you for a great year! Check out photos from our last workshop of the year

2010-12-02T22:31:00.008-05:00

We had our last canning workshop for 2010.

Thirteen of us came together to can pumpkins that were donated by Westdale United Church's garden. Co-organized with Greening Sacred Spaces and Westdale United we canned pumpkin puree and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Big thank you to Jan and Judy for helping lead the workshop.

This was a great last workshop for Fruit Tree in 2010.

We are looking forward to 2011.

Join us for the last canning workshop of the year

2010-11-26T09:37:00.002-05:00

We have been gifted 10 pumpkins to be canned. The pumpkins come from Westdale United Church.

With our partner,Greening Sacred Spaces we are pleased to present a Pumpkin Canning Puree Workshop.
Folks will be able to take home the puree to make into pies, cakes, soup - whatever your hearts desire!
Think of it as pre-planning for the holidays!

PUMPKIN PUREE CANNING WORKSHOP
Thursday Dec 2nd
6-9pm
Westdale United Church, 99 Oval
Donation of $3 to cover the costs of jars and refreshments.

While the puree is canning, we will be toasting the seeds!

Contact Beatrice at beatrice.ekoko@gmail.com
Or call the Environment Hamilton office - 905-549-0900 to reserve your space!
Space is limited!

Thank you for a great year!

2010-11-10T11:24:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to thank our volunteers, homeowners, partners, supporters, trees, vines, the earth for such a fantastic year! We harvested in total... 13,300 lbs of fresh produce! Thanks to Plan B Organic Farm for letting us harvest at their site - twice this year. Thanks to Greening Sacred Spaces of co-organizing workshops - we ran 12 workshops compared to eight last year. Thanks to Mission Services, Good Shepherd, Eva Rothwell, Neighbour to Neighbour Centre, North Hamilton Community Health Centre for all your hardwork and great communication skills. Thanks to Ben R for dedicating your Mitzvah project to Fruit Tree. Judy S - thank you for your donation. Loueen M - thanks for always thinking about our project. There are so many people to thank!
We are holding a Volunteer Appreciation Event
Friday Nov 12th
6-8
22 Wilson Street (Sonic Unyon bldg)
Come by for a great time with cool people, good eats, lovely music and RevWear. Check out James Street Art Crawl afterwards.
See you all in 2011!

Carrot Picking a success!

2010-10-23T13:29:00.004-04:00

We had over 40 folks and 7 kids come out to help harvest carrots for FoodShare. We filled bin after bin of tasty carrots. Thanks to all our volunteers, shout out to Katimavik folks and families who car pooled and biked to Concession 4.

Carrot Harvesting at Plan B Organic Farm

2010-10-17T08:48:00.001-04:00

We have another opportunity to harvest at Plan B Organic Farm, this time it is carrots. The carrots are going to Hamilton food banks and beyond.

This Saturday October 23rd at 10am (to noon - approximately)
For every 5 carrots we harvest, we keep one. It adds up quickly.

I am arranging car pooling, so let me know if you are able to drive, take others, or need a ride.
If able to come, contact Juby Lee, Project Manager for Hamilton Fruit Tree Project, at jlee.eatlocal@environmenthamilton.org or call 905-549-0900.

Please bring water for yourself as well as a container / bags for your portion to take home.
Please note: there are no washroom facilities at this site as well, the carrot harvest is happening on a rental property of Plan B and NOT the address of their farm house, if you are interested in coming, I will email you the exact address.

Making Apple Blossoms and Pies!

2010-09-29T12:06:00.005-04:00

Check out some of the tasty treats that were baked by Eva Rothwell folks.

Straight From the Garden a Great Success!

2010-09-26T16:06:00.002-04:00

Thanks to the many folks that dropped by to harvest apples from Dundurn Castle as part of the hands-on component of the "Straight from the Garden" event.
We had over 100 people, young and younger stop by the trees to help. One volunteer told me that harvesting was the best part of the day for her!
Big thank you to Cathy, Rose and Frank for helping out.
Shout out to Dundurn Castle for inviting us again.

Grapes are Great!

2010-09-15T13:21:00.004-04:00

We are busy picking and canning! Check out this harvest of tasty Concord grapes - they are small and seedy but sweet and tasty!

Beans! Beans the magical fruit!

2010-09-12T14:41:00.009-04:00

There was something magical about the bean harvest that happened Sunday September 12th. Fruit Tree Volunteers harvested beans, planted by Plan B Organic Farm folks and destined for the Ontario Food Bank Association. The weather forecasts called for rain on Sunday but instead it rained Saturday night and by Sunday the rain had passed, it stayed fairly overcast (perfect bean picking weather) for us while we harvested.

There were a lot of beans! In one of the photos above, you can see (but just barely) a house in the distance - thats where the bean crop stopped.
Big thank you to our hardworking volunteers who just picked and picked and picked! Thanks to all the drivers and car-poolers!
Shout-out to Plan B and Alvaro the farmer for letting us come and pick beans.
Update: Alvaro congratulated us on a great job and the beans were picked up by FoodShare the very next day.

Apples! Apples! Apples!

2010-09-09T13:44:00.003-04:00

Check out all these apples from one site! What a bountiful year! We have harvested over 5,500 lbs of delicious, tasty fruit - more then all of 2009! And we are still going!
We will be at Dundurn Castle during their "Straight from the Garden" event on Sunday September 26th from 12-4pm. Drop by as we harvest from their apple trees. Enjoy a farmers' market, tours and free workshops.

Thank you!

2010-08-18T16:07:00.001-04:00

It is always tricky to thank individuals as each moment a volunteer gives to Fruit Tree helps us out. But I wanted to thank Judy S and Chris for helping us out once again! You two never cease to amaze me!
Thank you to everyone who takes the time to support Fruit Tree. We could not do this without you!

Pears! Pears! Pears!

2010-08-16T10:01:00.006-04:00

We are in the throes of harvesting - check out this one site!
Thank you to all the volunteers that have come out to help, who offer to help and to those waiting to help.

We would like to take a moment to thank....

2010-08-06T14:46:00.003-04:00

We would like to give a big thank you to Ben Rudolph who spent the spring and summer raising money for our project. Ben made raising money for Environment Hamilton / Fruit Tree as part of his Bar Mitzah efforts. He raised over $2,000 by collecting donations at various events and through Small Change Fund.

Thank you to Ben and his family for all their hardwork for helping us!

Without folks like Ben, our volunteers, homeowners and supporters, Fruit Tree would not thrive.

You got 'em...

2010-08-06T13:40:00.004-04:00

We want 'em! Pears are back and in the past in couple weeks, thanks to our generous homeowners and dedicated volunteers, we've picked over 600 pounds of them! We have some more picks coming up in the next little while and are always on the lookout for more trees, so if you want to get involved drop us a line!

Berry Kind!

2010-07-27T11:06:00.004-04:00

The Hamilton Fruit Tree Project and Eat Local gained a new appreciation for the time and fragility investing in berry picking, as they gleaned raspberries from Jerry's Berries Raspberry Farm in Copetown this week! As the raspberry season comes to an end, Jerry and Glenda welcomed Fruit Tree and Eat Local staff and volunteers onto their farm to pick berries for an upcoming student breakfast program. We came away with litres of the tender, bright, sweet fruit which will be frozen and used in breakfast programs throughout the city in the coming school year. Thanks to our volunteers who braved the heat and armies of beatles to glean the fields, and much gratitude to Jerry's Berries for their generous donation of fruit to our program!

We'd also like to give a big thank you to our lovely Environment Hamilton volunteer, designer Miranda Kett from MK Creative where "Big Ideas Stand Out" for creating our new Hamilton Fruit Tree Logo!

Update on this year's events and picks

2010-07-05T12:33:00.003-04:00

Thanks to all who attended last week’s jam-making workshop, presented by the Hamilton Fruit Tree Project and Greening Sacred Spaces! Using some of the many sour cherries that the project’s volunteers have helped to harvest over the last few weeks, we made cherry jam using a simple recipe and sealed it into jars.

Be on the look-out for more picks and events, and please contact us to get on the Fruit Tree mailing list. Otherwise, be sure to keep an eye on our blog for updates!

You can also let us know if you would like to give your time, trees, or cash donations (which can be given through the Small Change Fund) to the project. We are always appreciative of your support!

Gearing up for 2010

2010-05-31T11:38:00.002-04:00

Thanks for all the ongoing interest in and support of the Fruit Tree Project's 2010 season! We especially appreciate the donations to our Small Change Fund drive - if you haven't yet, check it out here!

(You can find out more about the Small Change Fund and the work they do here.).

We haven't started picking yet, but are always on the look out for fruit sources and volunteers to harvest them, so if you are wanting to get involved, let us know.

We'll be updating the blog as the season gets going, so check back soon!

Small Change Fund for Hamilton Fruit Tree Project

2010-04-21T16:35:00.000-04:00

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project is in search of funds for the 2010 season.

The increasing need in our community for access to local, organic,
tasty fruit, the continual expansion of the volunteer list and
generous tree owners wanting their trees and vines harvested make this
project a success but lack of funding decreases the amount of fruit
harvested.

In partnership with Small Change Fund, Hamilton Fruit Tree Project is
looking for donations, big and small! Charitable tax receipts are
available to anyone who makes a donation.

Click this link for more information.

http://smallchangefund.org/projects/hamilton-fruit-tree-project

Thank you in advance for your support!

Thanks for an amazing and fun 2009!

2009-11-18T22:29:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Volunteer Appreciation Evening at Bread and Roses cafe. We feasted on platters of food, piled high with delicious baked goods, fresh fruit and veggies, and crackers and cheese. Door prizes were handed out - thanks to Ottawa Street Farmers Market for donating gift certificates and bags. The photos looked amazing, hanging up against the red brick wall of Bread and Roses. The focus of the evening was around "appreciation" and Fruit Tree is soooo grateful to many people and organizations.

We are grateful that we harvested 5,300 lbs this year! Congratulations and thanks to the volunteers and homeowners for their work and support.

We would like to thank the following for their support:
*Environment Hamilton and POET grant
*Healthy Living Hamilton
*Conserver Society

Thanks to our partners:
*Mission Services
*SISO - The Globe
*Good Shepherd
*Eva Rothwell / Robertland
*North Hamilton Community Health Centre
*Ryerson Breakfast Program

Thanks to the following people for their help and support:
Caroline Merritt and Ottawa Street Farmers Market
Sarah Kam and OPIRG PEAS
Meredith Vezina
William To for his design work
Dundurn Castle for letting us have our Fruit Tree kick-off at the beginning of the season and for letting us be part of their "Straight from the Garden."
Bread and Roses for hosting our Volunteer Appreciation

Last, but not least, thanks to the homeowners and volunteers for all their support. Look for us at Bread and Roses in June 2010 for our photo exhibit as part of the Art Crawl. See you in 2010!

Volunteer Appreciation Evening for Fruit Tree

2009-11-10T12:34:00.000-05:00

We are wrapping up for another successful year!

We are pleased to invite you to our "Volunteer Appreciation Event"
Wednesday November 18, 2009
7-9pm
Bread and Roses Cafe / Skydragon
27 King William Street

Come for a photo exhibit of this year and past years of harvesting,great door prizes, sample some of the fruit that we have preserved, stay for live music and refreshments.
Event is free.

Everyone is welcome!

Canning pears a great success! *** Join us for a pickling beets workshop!

2009-09-16T13:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone that came out to our pear canning workshop in Dundas. This was a joint effort with Greening Sacred Spaces and Dundas Ontario In Transition (Do-IT). We had 17 participants and we canned enough for everyone to take some home with them. Thanks to St. Augustine's church for letting us use their kitchen and space. The amount of resources that came together to make this happen was overwhelming, participants brought extra jars, more fruit, pots and equipment. We would especially like to thank Judy, Louise, Alma, Lynn for their wisdom and guidance. A special thanks to Kathryn whose dedication to our project has been inspiring.

****

CANNING WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT!!
We are pleased to announce a pickling beet workshop.
Saturday Sept 26th, 10-1pm.
St. Paul's Anglican Church
1140 King St, West
Sliding scale of $4-6 (To cover the costs of the beets, the space, insurance and jars)
*Space is limited*
RSVP by Monday Sept 21st
Contact Juby, Project Co-ordinator, at Environment Hamilton at: 905-549-0900
Or email: jlee.eatlocal(at)environmenthamilton.org
Due to popular demand, we have broadened our canning workshop to include beets. At this workshop, we are purchasing beets from Russ Ohrt of Backyard Harvest

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project part of Art Gallery of Hamilton's "Celebration of Harvest."

2009-09-09T17:26:00.000-04:00

We have been invited by CLiC to be part of their Harvest Celebration at the AGH. Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 6:30 pm

Enjoy the bounty of Fall with harvest-inspired snacks, cocktails and the sounds of Hamilton’s own Tim Gibbons. Special Guests include: Juby Lee, Hamilton Fruit Tree Project and Alvaro Venturelli, plan b Organic Farms.

CLiC Members: Free | Guests: $20

Please RSVP to Jocelyn at jocelyn@artgalleryofhamilton.com
or call 905-527-6610 ext. 250.

What is CLiC?
CLiC is a fresh collective of like minded individuals under 45, coming together with the Art Gallery of Hamilton to create an awareness of art, culture and community. Join the AGH as a CLiC Member for free admission to all CLiC events!

Mark your calendar! Sunday Sept 27th, Hamilton Fruit Tree Project at Dundurn Castle's "Straight from the Garden" celebration!

2009-09-08T16:44:00.000-04:00

Mark your calendar for this exciting, family-fun, local food event!

On SUNDAY SEPT 27th, 2009 from noon-4pm, DUNDURN CASTLE is hosting their annual "Straight from the Garden" day. This year, Hamilton Fruit Tree Project will be there harvesting apples. Like last year, the majority of the fresh, local produce will be distributed throughout Hamilton's Food Bank system. Drop by and help us harvest some of the tasty apples.

"Straight from the Garden" is a celebration Hamilton’s agricultural communities, past and present. Activities include:
*farmers' market
*an agricultural exhibition
*garden demonstrations and workshops
*garden tours, cooking workshops
*live music
*activities for the children
*Bring your backyard produce for the community horticultural exhibition!

Free admission to outdoor activities.
A small fee will be charged for cooking workshops.
Regular admission rates apply to the museum.

For more information contact:
610 York Boulevard, Hamilton,
Ontario L8R 3H1 • 905.546.2872
Visit our website www.hamilton.ca/museums

Fruit Galore!

2009-09-05T20:14:00.000-04:00

We have had a steady stream of home owners contacting us to harvest their fruit and an even steadier steam of interested volunteers willing to help pick!

Check out these beautiful red pears that we harvested from the mountain! Thanks to Kate for helping us identify them as "Red Anjous."

If you would like to get on the volunteer list, contact Juby, Project Co-ordinator at jlee.eatlocal(at)environmenthamilton.org to find out about upcoming picks.

Note that there is one larger pick happening at Dundurn Castle. This harvest is more of a drop-in style. Come by and help us harvest!

On Sunday, September 27, 2009
Hamilton Fruit Tree Project is partnering with Dundurn Castle with their STRAIGHT FROM THE GARDEN event. Spend the day harvesting their apples and celebrating Hamilton's agricultural communities, past and present. Activities include a market fair, an agricultural exhibition, guest speakers, garden tours, and games for the children.
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2009
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Ages: All

Harvest in Jerseyville is on!

2009-08-26T13:10:00.000-04:00

We are harvesting apples from 1915 Jerseyville Road West, Jerseyville on Saturday August 29th from 10:30am - 2:30pm.
There is carpooling available.
There are two shifts, one leaving at 10am and the other at noon.
Contact Juby Lee, Project Co-ordinator at jlee.eatlocal(at)environmenthamilton.org if you able to help harvest.

It is time to harvest! Check out our schedule below!

2009-08-16T14:32:00.000-04:00

Harvest time is here!

Here are some of the picks that we are planning for this week:

Contact me if can make it to one or some of these picks, you can either email Juby, Project Co-ordinator at jlee.eatlocal(at)environmenthamilton.org or call my cell: 289-880-1612.

Wednesday August 19, 10:30am at 292 John St North - we are harvesting grapes! (please bring your own clippers or scissors to help cut the bunches off)

Wednesday August 19, 3:30pm at 477 Anna lee Drive, Ancaster - this is a big pear tree.

Depending on the amount of fruit and number of volunteers, harvest times take anywhere from one to 2.5 hours.

This fun, tasty activity is weather permitting only, feel free to call my cell if the weather looks a little wonky.

I will be bringing equipment to help harvest.

Please bring some water for yourself and a container or bag for your share of the bounty! :)

In addition, we have access to about 20-30 apple trees in Jerseyville
and 2 large pear trees in Oakville - are you willing to travel to
either of these places? We are looking for volunteers with cars who are
willing to carpool to these locations. Let me know if you can help.

Let the harvesting begin!

Thank you for a succesful launch!

2009-07-22T13:45:00.000-04:00

We had a great launch at Dundurn Castle. Our guests were treated to local apples and cider, live music from Mike Trebilcock (pictured), two for one passes to tour the grounds of the castle and were allowed to harvest red currants from the Dundurn Gardens!
We chatted with Wayne MacPhail from Rabble.ca and he quickly posted the interview with Juby, the Project Co-ordinator. You can check out the interview at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g83Y0iPIC88
We are grateful to so many people!
Thanks to our volunteers, Simon and Meganne (pictured) Beatrice, Madeleine and Laura - you all did a fantastic job! Thanks to Dundurn Castle for providing the space and donating "two for one passes."
Thanks to Werner from Hamilton Waterfront Trust for lending us the tents. And lastly, thanks to Mike Trebilcock for performing for us!
We could not have done it without you!

Join us as we make SOUR CHERRY jam!

2009-07-21T11:56:00.000-04:00

We are thrilled to announce that we will be canning sour cherries.

The Hamilton Fruit Tree Project and OPIRG PEAS (Promoting Eating Alternatively and Sustainably) are teaming up to offer a canning workshop this Thursday! (July 23) We will be making jam with sour cherries.

The workshop will be taking place at Jamesville Community Centre (209 MacNab St N) from 1:30-4:30pm. All ingredients and equipment will be supplied by the Hamilton Fruit Tree Project.

So bring yourself and your eager hands (and tummies)!

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project Launch re-scheduled for THIS Saturday July 18th!

2009-07-14T14:29:00.000-04:00

We are gearing up to launch Hamilton Fruit Tree Project - again! Drop by for some apples and cider, learn more about the Hamilton Fruit Tree Project and stay for some live music and "two for one" passes to tour Dundurn Castle.
We are honoured to announce that talented Mike Trebilcock will be performing at noon!
Saturday July 18th, 2009.
11-2pm.
By the apple trees. Rain location - the Cockpit, next to the apple trees.

Hamilton Fruit Tree Launch - CANCELLED

2009-07-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

Due to the poor weather and the looming thunderstorm, Hamilton Fruit Tree Project is CANCELLING the launch. We are working to re-schedule it for Saturday July 18th - stay tuned for more details!

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project is gearing up for 2009!

2009-06-26T17:13:00.001-04:00

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project is pleased to announce our first ever launch!

Where: Dundurn Castle - under the apple trees
When: Saturday July 11th, 2009 from 11-2pm.
Drop by for some live music, apples, apple cider and relax with us
under the shade of the trees. Bring some instruments if you like and
we will have a little jam session :)
Explore Dundurn Castle with "two for one passes" that have been generously donated to us.
Hope you can join us!
For more information, contact Juby at 905-549-0900 or email jlee.eatlocal(at)environmenthamilton.org

And join us on facebook, search for "Hamilton Fruit Tree."

Welcome to Fruit Tree's blog!

2009-04-02T09:58:00.000-04:00

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project had a great 2008! We harvested close to 5,000 lbs of fresh, local fruit with a large portion going to food banks. Thanks to everyone who supported us!

Currently, we are in hiatus for the season. This years season will start in July or so. We are always looking for trees to pick, so tell us if you know of tree(s) that need to be harvested. If you are especially keen, Fruit Tree is looking for pick leaders to lead some of the harvests. And lastly, if you would like to volunteer to pick contact: Juby Lee, Project Co-ordinator, at jlee.eatlocal(at)environmenthamilton.org