The only thing I like about winter is the citrus. The bottles of cordial, endless slices, cakes, sauces, jams, pickles, zest and juice, citrus sugar, used in roasts, baking and other savouries and dishes from all over the world. Or just eating fresh. Then there's the oils and peels to use in potpourri and spray bottles for cleaning and making the house smell fresh. Their colours are like jewels when everything else is bleak, cold wet and miserable. Bowls and vases full of fresh colourful green, gold, yellow, orange citrus throughout the kitchen and dining room warms the cockles and gets me hunting for my next recipe.
huntlygirl,
Jul 15, 12:23am
They have a fruit harvest group here in Hamilton then they make it into marmalade and juice for the foodbanks. They often have calls out for pickers recently they have done persimmons, pumpkins and apples. Free to anyone who can use them.
wendalls,
Jul 15, 8:55am
Was just mentioning a previous thread within a page or so about " first time making marmalade" in which I had mentioned the fruit harvesting scheme. Perhaps I'll mention it to Hamilton harvesters that Whangamata is a potential goldmine of fruit for them if they can get pickers there to bring it back to the cities. A note in letterboxes at the right time of year would be a simple way to communicate with Bach owners to see if they'd like to share some fruit. Maybe some venture up in the July hols and could get kids to pick fruit? Mind you, Limes and lemons are no good to schools and food banks anyway are they. Limited value even for preserving.
awoftam,
Jul 15, 10:16am
Yes, and the majority of houses have no letter boxes. holiday homes have no need of them.
moparpete,
Jul 15, 10:45am
Gosh, I wish I could get hold of some free lemons or oranges here in Morrinsville/Te Aroha. I like making lemon honey and orange curds with them and my citrus trees are only yr old so no fruit atall yet.
rainrain1,
Jul 15, 8:57pm
Just courier it on down!
huca1,
Jul 15, 10:52pm
No such problem here in Wellington
I'd happily swap preserves or baking for some fruit but I don't think I know anyone who has a producing citrus tree!
There are several well publicised organisations round here that harvest fruit for charitable purposes
342,
Jul 15, 11:28pm
Just out of interest what sort of citrus were you wanting and how much?
popeye333,
Jul 17, 1:14am
I have put two huge bin loads at our mailbox and then advertised them on local facebook groups. They all went.
The tree still has heaps on it but they need more ripening.
Far nicer to give them away than see them rot on the ground
beaker59,
Jul 17, 1:32am
Chopped up 4Kg of grapefruit and lemons for marmalade this morning. all donated from neighbours tree :)
kay34,
Jul 17, 5:21am
What i wouldn't give for lemons,limes etc, and i think in future i might just have to get brave and knock on peoples doors, lol
julie55,
Jul 17, 5:32am
go to www.picfruit.co.nz for contacts in your area for community fruit nationwide. Most have a facebook page where you can message. This fruit has a place to go to many people in in our communities that struggle
It's rather bizarre that lemons are $4.50 per kg in the local Four Square store here (the main food retailer in Tairua), while at the same time literally thousands of lemons are going to waste on hundreds of trees across the town! Since most of the homes here are unoccupied holiday homes, the waste is even worse, as even the home owners aren't using any of the fruit!
I wonder why they actually bother planting citrus, as most of it ripens during the months they aren't even here!
While the fruit sharing outfits sound like a great idea, I don't think they'd be an option in situations like here, as there aren't enough permanent residents that would want/need surplus fruit, and getting it to places that could use it would probably be expensive and difficult to organise.
wendalls,
Jul 17, 9:53am
Yes book zone, it relies on people being conscious of wastage. Maybe if ads were place in the local bulletins in the summer asking property owners to consider bringing their winter fruit home to the big cities that might get a few people thinking? (Letterbox drops to those that have them) As the schemes become more widely known in the cities they might do this anyway. Some wouldn't be bothered but others might.
standard,
Jul 19, 8:57am
You wouldn't get ignored in the south.
wendalls,
Jul 19, 10:14am
My Auckland suburb on the outskirts has a share your fare stall set up in the village. I've seen it advertised recently for the first time but haven't checked it out as yet. You are supposed to bring something to swap in return for what you take if you can. Hopefully people will not be greedy with less common goods.
nzdoug,
Aug 11, 5:19pm
Honesty boxes work in the more remote areas.
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