Fruit Share Manitoba

Category : Fruit Owners

Rhubarb Orange Jam

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Manitoba Fruit,Recipes,Uncategorized by Raelene H

May.19,2013

Last year, when I was 8 months pregnant with our second child we moved into a beautiful new house – a block and a half from our old house (our Realtor thought it would be funny to send me the posting). As the snow melted, a ring of red and green nubbins popped up from the ground in the area where a garden had once been. I was thrilled that I didn`t need to start yet another rhubarb plant from scratch!

However, after a few weeks, things were starting to get out of hand. The.Plant.Was.Huge. Ridiculously huge. My husband refused to go anywhere near it. It made my daughter cry because she thought monsters lived in it.

Oh well, at least we had rhubarb! So I started scouring canning and preserving books thinking of all the ways I would use this new-found wealth.

This recipe is from one of my favourite canning books: the Bernardin Complete book of Home Preserving:

Rhubarb Orange Jam

2 Oranges
5 Cups Finely chopped rhubarb
1 Package Regular powered fruit pectin
6 Cups Granulated sugar

1. Prep your jars, lids and rings.
2. Remove the zest from half of one orange with a vegetable peeler. Cut the zest into very thin slivers, about 1 inch long, and set aside. Juice both oranges and measure to 1 cup (adding water if necessary).
3. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine orange juice, slivered orange zest and rhubarb. Whisk in pectin until dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, for one minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
4. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot jam. Wipe rim, Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
5. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

This tastes like the epitome of spring to me. The zippy, citrusy flavour brings back memories of sunshine and morning coffee even on the dreariest winter day.

Raelene

Tags : Recipes; Rhubarb; Orange; Jam, rhubarb orange jam

Rhubarb 2013, Slowly but Surely

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Manitoba Fruit,Volunteers by Getty

May.16,2013

Look at the difference a year can make!

Here’s a look at my rhubarb patch today compared to what it looked like in April of last year.

Rhubarb May 9, 2013

Rhubarb April 25, 2012

My little patch of rhubarb is tucked in a relatively shady spot in the yard and may therefore be a little further behind than rhubarb in full sun (it prefers full sun), but it’s a good barometer of what we can expect this rhubarb season. We can expect – RHUBARB!

Yipee!

Keep your eyes open as rhubarb plants across the city grow into big, delicious edibles. As Christine mentioned in her post RHUBARB WANTED, if you see it’s not being used, let the owner know that we’ve got many volunteers interested in using and sharing these lovely stalks.

Tags : rhubarb 2013, rhubarb plants, rhubarb shoots

WANTED – Rhubarb!

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Manitoba Fruit,Volunteers by Christine T

May.8,2013

Reward? A tasty treat that can be used in jams, pies, cakes, crisps, and so much more!

Rhubarb is known as a cool season perennial plant that can survive the harsh Manitoba winters. Even with our late spring, rhubarb will soon be ready for picking, likely by the end of the month.

Keep an eye out for unharvested rhubarb in the coming weeks. If you spot unharvested rhubarb, why not knock on the door and see if the owner will allow you to pick a few stalks? Or, drop a Got Fruit? note in the mailbox to encourage them to sign up their rhubarb with Fruit Share. We have volunteers ready and eager to pick!

Share the word that Fruit Share is looking for surplus rhubarb. No surplus is too small! We always welcome the opportunity to pick a small patch.

Tags : Community, Fruit Share, Harvest, Manitoba fruit, Manitoba rhubarb, rhubarb, sharing, sharing fruit, Winnipeg fruit

ARBOR DAY CELEBRATION

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Uncategorized,Volunteers by Chris M

May.5,2013

Saturday, May 25, 2013 is Arbor Day at AssiniboinePark. This annual fun filled day will be held at the Children’s Nature Playground in the park and is packed full of activities for everyone in the family.

For all of our fruit tree owners (or wannabes), here’s your opportunity to have some of your tree related questions answered at the “Ask the Arborist” booth or take in one of the planting or pruning sessions.

Woodturning demonstrations and guided tours of the Riparian Forest are also sure to please while adventurous kids might want to check out the extremely popular children’s zip-line rides. And don’t miss the bucket truck offering tree top rides to those of us who dare to rise above the crowd.

For more information: http://cms.tng-secure.com/file_download.php?fFile_id=25195

Tags : arbor day, arborist, Community, tree planting, tree pruning

Upcoming Events – March 2013

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Volunteers by Getty

Mar.7,2013

Check out these great gardening/farming events that Fruit Share will be involved in.

Thanks to our display volunteers who make it possible for us to be part of these great Manitoba events.

Seedy Saturday – March 9
10am to 3pm
Canadian Mennonite University (South Campus)

This is the 13th year for the annual gathering of “seedies”, foodies, and gardeners. Come check out local seed varieties from small scale seed vendors from across the Prairies and organizations working to protect varieties and encourage and support gardeners. Don’t forget to bring your seeds for the seed swap!

Fruit Share will be one of the exhibitors.

Ag in the City – March 15-17
9 – 6 pm Friday to Sunday (displays)
see schedule for various Mainstage shows
Forks Market

Agriculture in the City is a three-day event that offers a chance to explore the vibrant and innovative world of agriculture. All members of the public are welcome to come discover how agriculture impacts our daily lives.

Fruit Share’s Getty Stewart will be presenting on Prairie Fruit and leading the audience in a game of Prairie Fruit Jeopardy on Sunday, March 17 at 12:30pm

Gardening Saturday – March 23
9pm to 4pm
Canadian Mennonite University (North Campus)

Manitoba’s largest indoor gardening symposium connecting Manitoba gardeners with the experts, products and services in our vital horticultural community. Featuring exhibitors, educational workshops, guest speakers, demonstrations and food market. Presented by The Friends of Gardens Manitoba, a not-for-profit organization.

Fruit Share will have a display at the event and Getty Stewart will be presenting on Preserving and Preparing Prairie Fruit at 9:00-9:45 am.

Hope to see you there!

Tags : ag in the city, Gardening Saturday, seedy saturday

Growing Local Conference

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Manitoba Fruit,Recipes by Getty

Mar.6,2013

We kicked off the month at Food Matters Manitoba’s Growing Local Conference. We were eager to showcase our program, share some jam making information and recruit more volunteers. Take a look.

Fruitshare booth Growing Local 2013 with Laura

Laura volunteered at the booth and made amazing Bannock for our jam making presentation.

Getty got to meet Arita, one of our new volunteer pickers.

Julie volunteered at the display booth and answered a lot of questions.

Howard shared close to 300 lbs of pears with volunteer pickers last summer and here he’s being interviewed by U of W radio.

Katie showed how easy it is to make strawberry/rhubarb freezer jam.

Getty demonstrated how to test homemade apple stock for pectin content.

If you missed out on the fun and want to catch up on some of what we discussed in the “Let’s Get Jammin’” Workshop, here are the handouts we shared.

Canning Safely & Gel Test
Includes Instructions for how to:

sterilize jars
process jars in a hot water bath
test for gel set

Pectin Chart Growing Local conference

Includes information on 7 different varieties of pectin including cost, ingredients, sweetener required, basic method, pros and cons

Thanks to Julie, Howard, Laura and Summer for being at the display table and to everyone who stopped by for a visit.

Tags : canning safely, gel test, pectin chart

The Crab Apple Dilemma

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Volunteers by FS Coordinator

Sep.19,2012

Dear Crab Apple Owners,

We want to thank you all for registering your fruit with us over the years, we are glad that you have the desire to share your fruit and wish to see it put to good use.

As most of you are already aware, this summer we have had some challenges filling all of our pick requests. This has been especially true for Crab Apples. There are a few reasons for this, which we’d like to share with you in the hopes of coming up with some solutions to the ‘crab apple dilemma’ for next year.

Currently, 129 out of our 307 Fruit Owners have crab apple trees. That means over 40% of picks that we are offering to our volunteers and partner organizations are crab apples.
During peak ripening times, our volunteers were inundated with requests for picks. They are volunteers and attend when and where they can, but picking fruit can’t always be their number one priority. Sometimes they just can’t keep up.
Crab apples are a little more work to process and use. This means that fewer organizations are interested in receiving them (they may not have the man power, skills or knowledge to process them), and the same goes for volunteers.
Crab apples turn from ripe to over-ripe very quickly (especially early varieties such as the Rescue crab), and it can be hard to tell just from looking what state they are in. The crabs on your tree may look red and delicious for eating, but be rotten on the inside.
Because of the above, if picks aren’t scheduled early enough, volunteers may arrive to find a tree filled with mushy, rotten crab apples (and often many wasps) and end up throwing the fruits of their picking labour into the compost. Unfortunately, many of our volunteers have had this experience and it has turned them off of crab apple picks altogether.
Some ornamental varieties of crabs may be technically be edible, but are too small to be processed and enjoyed by most people.

We need a little help from you to find a solution to this dilemma for next year. Please keep a close eye on your trees, and contact us to request a harvest at least one week before your apples are actually ready for picking. In the time leading up to the pick, check on your apples by picking a few, cutting them open, and making sure they aren’t rotting on the inside. If you find your apples are past their prime, please contact us to cancel your pick request. It is not fair to our volunteers to ask them to pick rotten apples that no one can enjoy. If you aren’t sure if your apples are large enough to be enjoyed, please give us a call or send us a picture before signing up.

In return, we commit to recruiting more volunteers to handle the amount of requests we get at peak times, and to finding new ways to inspire our volunteers and partner organizations to pick and use more crab apples. We have begun this process by running workshops with our partner organizations but are always looking for more ways to do it. To that end, if you have any great ideas to get volunteers excited about crab apples, we welcome you to share them with us!

Thank you again for thinking of Fruit Share, and for your intention to share your surplus fruit. We look forward to working with you again next year.

Sincerely,

Anna and the Fruit Share Team

Tags : crab apple owners, crab apples, using crab apples

Are your apples ready to be picked?

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Manitoba Fruit,Prairie Fruit Cookbook by FS Coordinator

Jul.24,2012

We have been receiving lots of questions this week from Fruit Owners who are unsure if their apples are ripe. Our extra warm weather seems to be throwing off our typical growing season! Hopefully this post will help you to be able to tell if you should be putting in a Harvest Request soon. Because we typically only go to a homeowner’s once to pick apples, we like to pick them when the majority are ripe.

Many people assume that because apples are starting to fall, that the whole apple tree is ripe and ready for picking. That’s actually not true. Apples ripen at different stages and some apples will always fall off early in the season. That usually means some will be have dropped by the time we get to them.

Here’s some info on judging ripeness of apples, taken from Prairie Fruit Cookbook by Getty Stewart.

“Prairie apples are harvested from early August to late September. Exact harvest times are dependent on variety and growing conditions. To determine the ideal harvest time, consider:

Colour – Watch the change in colour of your apples, specifically the change in the base colour or “ground colour” of your apples (e.g. from green to creamy yellow). Once the ground colour has changed on most of the apple’s surface it’s ready to harvest. Remember the apples in the centre of your tree will be the last to change colour and not all apples will ripen at the same time.

Separation from Tree – Test how easily the apples come off the tree. Gently hold the bottom of an apple, lift it against the stem and gently twist. If it comes off easily, it is ripe and ready to be picked. If it requires a forceful tug, it is not quite ready.

Note: It is usual for some apples to drop before the majority of the tree is ready to harvest. Do not assume that a few fallen apples mean the tree is ready to harvest.

Flavour –Taste several apples from different parts of the tree to check for texture and sweetness. Apples ready for harvest are sweet and crisp. A hard, tart apple is underripe while a mealy, soft one is overripe – relative to variety, of course.

Pip Colour – Cut open an apple and look at the colour of the pips (seeds). Ripe apples have brown or dark coloured pips.”

One more thing to consider – please try to submit your request at least a week before you think your tree needs to be picked. With the volume of fruit owners and volunteers we are now working with, it takes us about a week to process requests.

Tags : Apples, harvesting apples, ripeness

The First Fruit of 2012

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Manitoba Fruit,Volunteers by Getty

May.23,2012

Here’s a look at the first batch of rhubarb shared with us for 2012. Weighing in at 4lbs 4oz, this pre-picked bundle was shared with us by home owners from the South Osborne area who have been donating their rhubarb since 2010.

I’ll be sharing this rhubarb, where I shared the very first batch back in 2010 – with the seniors of Fred Tipping Place. The rest I’ll prepare for the Dig In Manitoba Urban Fruit Harvesting workshop on June 6 at the Riverview Community Centre. Click here for workshop details and to register.

Last year we picked about 36 patches of rhubarb. This year, let’s see if we can capture more untapped rhubarb throughout the city and in Steinbach. Let no rhubarb be forgotten!

To that end, we have sent reminder notices to all of our registered rhubarb owners to see if they’d like to share with us again this year. I suspect we’ll see some requests come in as early as next week.

In the meantime, if you spot unharvested rhubarb why not knock on the door and see if the owner will allow you to pick a few stalks. Or, drop a Got Fruit? note in their mailbox to encourage them to sign up their rhubarb with Fruit Share.

We have volunteers ready and eager to pick the rhubarb growing in Winnipeg or Steinbach.

Please pass on the message that Fruit Share is looking for surplus rhubarb. Even if it’s just one plant, chances are we’ve got a volunteer down the street who’d welcome the opportunity to pick a small patch.

Tags : first fruit, rhubarb

Fruits and vegetables

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Manitoba Fruit by FS Coordinator

Oct.22,2011

Don’t forget about the end-of-year wind-up potluck celebration tomorrow afternoon! RSVP info@fruitshare.ca if you are interested in attending. Click here for more information about our Grand Finale.

This year we rescued an immense amount of fruit and vegetables, to our great delight! Here are some of the delicious items that homeowners were willing to share with us:

Apples
Crab apples
Pears
Rhubarb
Cherries
Currants
Apricots
Plums
Grapes
Watermelon
Bok choy
Tomatoes
Eggplants
Pumpkins
Peppers
Mint
Eggplant

Tags : canadian fresh produce, local fruits and veg, Manitoba fruit, manitoba vegetables, what grows in winnipeg

Are My Apples Ready to Harvest?

Filed Under : Fruit Owners,Fruit Share,Manitoba Fruit by Getty

Aug.26,2011

How do I know if my apples are ready to harvest?

creamy ground colour all around - ready to pick

We hear this question a lot at Fruit Share and so we thought we’d share some insight on how to tell when apples are ready to harvest.

There are four factors to consider when determining if your apples are ready for picking:

1. Colour – More important than the formation and colouration of the red blush found on many apples is the base colour or “ground colour” of your apples. Watch your apples as their main background colour changes (e.g. from green to creamy yellow). Once their ground colour has changed over most of their surface they are ready to harvest. Remember the apples toward the centre of your tree and the side of the apples facing the inside of the tree will be the last to change colour.

2. Separation from Tree – Test how easily the apples come off the tree by gently holding the bottom of an apple. Lift the apple against the stem and gently twist. If the apple comes off easily, it is ripe and ready to be picked. If it requires a forceful tug, it is not quite ready to harvest. Note: It is usual for some apples to drop before the majority of the tree is ready to harvest. Do not assume that a few fallen apples mean the tree is ready to harvest.

very green and hard to pull off - not quite ripe

3. Flavour –Taste several apples from different parts of your tree to determine their texture and sweetness. Apples ready for harvest are sweet and crisp. A hard, tart apple is underripe while a mealy, soft one is overripe. Of course the terms “sweet” and “tart” are relative to the variety of your apple tree.

4. Pip Colour –Cut open an apple and look at the colour of the pips (seeds). Ripe apples have brown or dark coloured pips.

Apples ripen from the outside of the tree to the centre of the tree, so be sure to check apples from different parts of your tree.

If you’re picking for yourself, pick over several weeks to enjoy apples at their finest for as long as possible. If you’re calling Fruit Share or scheduling one giant pick, try to schedule the pick when the majority of apples are at their peak (when the ones toward the centre of the tree are turning ripe).

But don’t despair, even if you pick too early or too late, there are still a lot of options for your apples. Underripe apples are good for making juice while overripe apples are good for applesauce and baked goods.

Happy harvesting!

Tags : apple harvest, harvesting apples, when are apples ready to harvest

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Sharing the Harvest

Harvest Stats for 2013
Fruit Harvested: 0 lbs
Number of Harvests: 0
Number of Volunteers:240
Number of Fruit Owners:293
Number of Organizations Helped:0

2012
Fruit Harvested: 10,108 lb
Number of Harvests: 118
Number of Volunteers: 240
Number of Fruit Owners: 293
Number of Organizations Helped: 33

2011
Fruit Harvested: 7,386 lb
Number of Harvests: 97
Number of Volunteers: 201
Number of Organizations Helped: 19

2010
Fruit Harvested: 1,694 lb
Number of Harvests: 20
Number of Volunteers: 10
Number of Organizations Helped: 6
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