As you'll know by now, we have a lovely tradition here at EcoSend to volunteer twice a quarter and help out initiatives and communities in our local area.
It's still just about Summer season in the UK, which is when we try to get a bit of fresh air and help out at conversation programs, such as TreeMusketeers or TCV.
To round-off our Summer activities, before we return to indoor ones such as helping out at Foodbanks, we were delighted to join a local initiative harvesting apples at the Mill Hill orchard, organised by The Orchard Project!
To add an extra touch of 'synergy', we found out the apples to be harvested were to be donated directly to The Felix Project, who are one of the initiatives we volunteer with during winter!
And so, knowing the apples would be sent to a great cause, the EcoSend London team trekked up to farthest North London on a surprisingly sunny September day, to join The Orchard Project and lend our hands!
We were greeted by the lovely Anne and Lizzie, who were to be our guides for the day.
Anne gave us a fascinating backstory about the history of the orchard, which once upon a time was used by monks at the former Catholic monastery of St. Josephs (now converted to luxury flats - classic London..!).
Thankfully, though the monastery may have been sold-on, the orchard was preserved for the community, and is now used to harvest apples for charitable causes like the Felix Project.
Lizzie gave us a full breakdown on our tasks for the day, and the different types of apples to harvest:
🍏 Healthy, edible apples, to be picked off the branch and harvested for The Felix Project.
🍎 Applies with a bit of tarnish or 'pecks' from animals, to be harvested for turning into brandy.
🦌 Non-edible apples to be left for the deer or to fertilise the ground for the next season.
Building on our knowledge from Christine's session with the TreeMusketeers in August, we learned that grafting and root-stock sizes are also used to determine the size and type of apples.
To plant an apple tree with a pre-determined apple type, you have to 'graft' from an existing apple tree, then choose the root-stock size to determine how big the tree will be. Fascinating!
Lizzie then produced a handful of example apples, to give us an idea of which to put in the crates for The Felix Project, bags for the brandy brewing, or leave on the floor.
Below, Phil models a good apple ✅
And below, Phil models a bad apple 😂
We set about our task which quickly made for a really delightful experience - what better way to spend a few hours than outdoors in nature, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, breathing in fresh air and picking fresh apples!
Our CSR days are all about giving up time to volunteer, but that really doesn't capture the full picture of how enjoyable these experiences often are for us!
Alongside the other volunteers, we happily chatted, picked, and packed apples; basking in the September sunshine.
It was great fun - and also a lovely time for us as a team to get together; which is very important as a remote-first company.
We shared many jokes and stories. Not to mention Amira's (seemingly endless…) fun facts. Such as the one about the reproductive cycles of eels (don't ask!).
The time whizzed by, and before we knew it we'd harvested the whole crop and set to hauling the crates into Lizzie's van, ready to distribute to The Felix Project.
All in all we successfully harvested a full van load of apples for a good cause.
Not only that, but we had a wonderful time doing it! It really was a great day out and we're so grateful for The Orchard Project for hosting us.
Do check them out if you are stuck for ideas for your next CSR day. We will certainly be back next season!
Until next time,
Chris
