Wokingham Community Apple Press
About this project
- Date started:
- July 2011
- Status:
- Active
- Number of people involved:
- Number of people benefitting:
- Goals or benefits:
- Related Transition stage:
- Connecting
Description
Aims:
Every year we see apples left to waste and rot, either on trees in gardens, or on orphan trees by the roadside. It bothers us. So we started talking about how to make it easier for people to harvest and enjoy them. Then we applied for community funding, and when we were lucky enough to be awarded, bought a press, a crusher and a pasteurizer.
The press is available for personal use but is not to be used for commercial profit. We charge £20 for a year's membership to cover insurance and other Transition projects in the Community.
Further information:
The Community Apple Press is available for personal use for anyone who lives in the Borough of Wokingham. If you have a tree but don't have the time to pick your apples, we can help. Or if you don't have any apples of your own, we'll try to match you with a fruit-tree owner who is happy to share some of the juice in exchange for picking.
We want to make use of fruit trees in the area that don't belong to anyone. If you know of any orphan trees in the area and are happy to share the knowledge, please let us know where it is as we're working on a map to go on our website.
We are also making the press available to charities and community groups for events and fun days. We also want to run sessions in local schools to learn about how apples grow and how juice is made. If you would like a presentation for your school or group then please let us know.
Transition Wokingham has several groups including a garden share scheme and a bee group. If you want to find out more, then do get in touch with us.
community apple press
2 August 2011 - 10:02pm — Mike GrenvilleCan you say more about the apple press please.
Which one did you choose and why? How much did it cost?
How big is it? so how easy to transport?
This would be helpful info for us to know where to start such a project ourselves.
thanks
Mike
Transition Forest Row
re: community apple press
3 August 2011 - 10:38pm — Matthew WoodhamHi Mike and Transition Forest Row
Have found a picture of our equipment, but it wasn't from this supplier:
http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/pages/product/productEnlar...
I'll post more information on costs asap. At one point we were recruiting shareholders to have a stake in the equipment, but we were delighted to be awarded the community grant fund, as this enabled us to buy high quality equipment, plus a crusher, picking equipment and a steriliser. We were advised against smaller presses geared for domestic use due to limited durability.
It really needs at least two people to lift safely, and would need to be transported around by trolley/wheelbarrow locally. Or car/van for longer distances.
We've had a lot of bookings this season and the project is a great success.
Kind regards
Matthew.
community apple press
8 August 2011 - 9:39pm — Matthew WoodhamBy the way, Mike, you're welcome to come and play in the Transition Wokingham shed if you're interested.
The model is a 36 litre press from Vigopresses, chosen because of size and capacity. We knew vigo is a leading brand and we could get advice from them. It cost £400. Ideally, we would like to transport it to group events and for apples from individuals to be brought to the press.
Other places to buy presses are Ascott Smallholdings.