Abundance in Chiswick used to run many picking sessions with local schools. However, as climate change really begins to take effect, the fruit season is generally much earlier, so the bulk of the apple harvest is often over by the time the schools return in September. With national apple day in late October a thing of the past, we no longer run picking sessions with schools.
In the past we worked with Belmont School, William Hogarth School, Cavendish School, Grove Park School, Strand on the Green School, St Peters C of E School and we still work with these schools – and others – on art projects such as the Butterfly Wall at the old police station.
We now offer assistance to schools that wish to improve their grounds and make them more biodiverse. For instance, one of our pocket parks – the raised beds on Acton Green – is run by Orchard House School.
We wrote a comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to do fruit picking at their local school. Thanks to Marianne Landzettel for her help in creating it.
How a school picking session works
The school kids go on picking outings weekly in September and October in groups of 12. They walk to a tree in the garden of a local resident with a school teacher and Abundance volunteer. We pick, grade, sort the fruit and bring it back to be stored at the school. It can be eaten fresh, cooked, sold at the school gate or saved for our annual Fruit Fair in October. Schools are encouraged to have a stall at our fair, selling goodies made from their locally picked fruit and raising money for the school.