It’s Pip, pip hooray at Colyton’s Apple Day!
Town’s apple event has waste saving at its core.
Devon’s most rebellious townsfolk enjoyed their first Apple Day in recent years on Sunday.
The idea behind the event, held at Umborne Bridge in Colyton, was to promote the humble fruit which many have growing in abundance in their gardens.
Attendees at the event had the chance to drop off fruit for sharing, crush apples using a number of different presses, swap and identify different varieties and sample some home-baked apple crumbles, pies and cakes. The afternoon was organised by SAVE food hub and hosted by Colyton gallery and coffee venue FINN Studio and Umborne Bridge Studio. It also marked the end of a successful Devon Open Studios fortnight held by artists based at the Umborne Bridge Studio.
SAVE volunteers picking apples for Colyton’s Apple Day
Yvonne Taylor, a Trustee of SAVE food hub, said “I’ve often walked past windfalls rotting on the ground and wondered whether more could be done to use them up. Of course, windfalls are fantastic for wildlife but lots are fit for human consumption too. This year we’ve started small with this event to gauge interest but wouldn’t it be great if we could start a Colyton apple cooperative? Perhaps one day we could have our own Colyton apple juice or cider?”
“It was a wonderful day full of community spirit and sharing. The apple cakes and juice all made from local Colyton apples were delicious. The sun shone and it was great fun.” - Umborne Bridge Studio artists.
“A wonderful and welcoming atmosphere greeted us at the recent Apple Day at FINN Studio. SAVE food hub provided a home for our garden apples which we were unable to use. It was very satisfying knowing that they would be passed on and used rather than going to waste. Thank you SAVE food hub and an extra thank you for the delicious apple cake!" - Nial & Natalie who bought us sacks of the most wonderful cooking and eating apples.
Jo Wright one of the organisers said “We’re very grateful to those people who donated their apples for swapping and juicing and for those landowners who allowed us to come and pick some of their surplus apple harvest. Thank you too to the fantastic bakers for donating some delicious cakes and crumbles which we were able to share out. I really hope we can do this again!”
SAVE food hub is a volunteer-led community group that shares surplus food with the community to prevent it from going to waste. The group collects food, which is nearing its Best Before or Use By date, from local supermarkets and food suppliers. Any food which can be used by local food banks is set aside for them as a priority and the rest is made available for the community to use.
