Harvest Share
Apple/fruit picking
With September often being the best month of the year to pick apples and plums, our ‘Harvest Share Project’ gets underway and runs until November. The project has been going in Stratford upon Avon for over 8 years and each year we save and distribute around 800 kilos of fruit. We pick the fruit in local gardens where people want to share their surplus produce or where they are unable to pick it for themselves. We welcome new “donors” and volunteers - just send us a message or give is a call on 07774 424404.
Our Harvest Share project gets volunteers together in the great outdoors to have fun and pick a variety of fruits from gardens and orchards, before distributing them to places around the local community including care homes, hospitals and food banks for those in need. This helps save unwanted fruit from going to waste and any surplus or damaged fruit can be donated to local animal sanctuaries.
In addition to promoting general wellness, apple picking has specific benefits for brain health and psychological well-being, as well as physically being great exercise.
Growing our own veg
From Spring onwards we (with help from our Green Therapy group) grow our own veg in the Stratford-Upon-Avon Kitchen Garden and polytunnel. We grow a variety of vegetables from courgettes to carrots and whatever we grow gets donated to Stratford Hospital’s Café Lomas who make use of it.
There’s also an annual Harvest Share Day at Café Lomas in October where we donate produce we have grown to accompany that which is donated by hospital staff and share it with the local community.
Get involved
If you’d like to volunteer to pick fruit with us in 2023, offer your orchard or garden as one of our picking locations or donate fruit and vegetables to the cause, please contact carolelongden@forestofhearts.com or call 07774 424404.
Grow your own edibles from plot to plate with our ‘Grow Your Own Veg Box’ from our online shop. A box contains 9 different packets of seeds and a full instruction book on how to sow and grow your edibles. You can get growing right away for a small £10 donation which goes towards our wellbeing, biodiversity and environmental projects. Contact us now to order yours
