A new scheme to put fruit growers in touch with pickers has come to fruition in the Cotswolds. Charlotte Shepherd learns about Apple-Share.

AT THIS time of year the sight of fruit left rotting on trees is a familiar one across the Cotswolds.

Yet many people without their own orchards would dearly love to harvest this ripe bounty to make their own juice, cider or perry.

Well now, thanks to a new scheme they can. In an attempt to stop the rot Hege Usborne, who owns Westley Farm near Chalford and has her own orchard, has come up with the idea of Apple-Share.

Apple-Share is a database of fruit tree owners and those who wish to harvest fruit. “Apple-Share is my attempt to marry up people who have apple and pear trees but for one reason or another are not able to harvest them, with people who have the time and energy to pick but do not have enough fruit of their own,” Mrs Usborne explained.

“I want to stop the wastage. Gloucestershire has loads of old orchards and the only way to keep them is to use them. Really I am like a dating agency,” she said.

It will be left up to individuals to come up with a suitable agreement – some may share the harvest or the juice if the fruit is pressed. And others may come to a financial arrangement.

Mrs Usborne is keen to get across that this scheme is not just aimed at people who own orchards or farms but could benefit someone who has one tree in their garden that they are unable to pick.

Ann Smith, co-ordinator at Gloucestershire Orchard Group fully supports Mrs Usborne’s scheme. “It is important because if orchards have an economic value they are more likely to be retained,” she said.

Gloucestershire Orchard Group already runs an online marketplace where growers can advertise if they have a glut of fruit that they wish to sell or even give away. “We also have a Wanted section so people can ask for a particular type of fruit,” Mrs Smith explained.

In fact the online marketplace has been so successful that the Group recently received National Trust funding to roll it out nationwide.

Surprisingly, apple pickers have at present been slow to come forward to take part in Apple-Share. “So far, I have lots of tree owners registered but few pickers,” Mrs Usborne said. “I assumed that everyone would want to pick the trees but that is not the case.”

Mrs Smith agrees that harvesting the trees is the problem. “The stumbling block is getting people out to pick,” she said.

One suggestion is that people who want to make their own juice, cider or perry are put off harvesting trees because they do not know how to get access to a commercial juicer.

Help is at hand from communal pressing days. “I have noticed a massive increase in local communities having communal juicing days,” Mrs Smith said. “It would be fantastic to have a community presser in every village.”

Apple pressing days, where a commercial juicer brings along a presser for communal use, are held across the Cotswolds and Mrs Usborne has just hosted her own one on her farm. Gloucestershire Orchard Group also has a juicer that it hires out to villages.

So if you have always wanted to harvest your own apples or pears, but don’t have an orchard in your back garden, Apple-Share could help you on your way to picking your first crop.

To find out more about Apple-Share contact Hege Usborne at Hege@westleyfarm.co.uk or on 01285 760262 For more information on the Gloucestershire Orchard Group go to www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk