Help yourself (box) to an apple a day …
September 30th, 2008
The apple tree has so many apples – more then people seem to harvest. I assume this is partly due to the fact that the site is not easily accessible and that not everyone has a ladder. Its a real pity to see them being wasted.
In the spirit of the harvest garden proposal which promotes recycling and an honesty box for excess produce. A couple of hours on a very sunny Sunday afternoon were enough to take an old abandoned crate apart and build a small box that sits on the fence. Its all rather ad hoc and I am sure the final Honesty Stall will look nothing like it, but it is a good way of testing the idea and have a temporary solution which – should it be destroyed is not a great loss.
Once the box was up Ismael, Hassan, Salomon and Ava helped to harvest the apples and fill the box. They also suggested we should grow other fruits like, mangoes, peaches and carrots. Placing the box on the boundary was quite helpful as it was accessible from both sites which made it easy to fill. It did feel a bit strange to ask for a donation in return for an apple since the tree has been on site growing apples for so long. All we did was to put it into the box. Guess it is more a ‘Help yourself box’ then an ‘Honesty Stall’
It did not take long before we had the first customers and by the following morning most of the apples had gone. There is probably one more box full on the tree which will be harvested before too long. I kept checking on the box every now and then and it was always a delight to see someone take an apple on their way. I assume once the station is in place and the footfall in Bakers Row is increasing produce will be flying off the shelf (box).