MIKE YOUDS
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
There all kinds of ways to serve your community, though few could possibly bear as much fruit as gleaning.
September heralds the height of gleaning season, when tree fruits, nuts and vegetables often ripen faster than homeowners can keep up, winding up on the ground to attract bears as they fatten up for winter.
Want to keep the bears at bay? The number to call is 250-731-8330. Cheryl Hillman, co-ordinator of the Alberni Valley Gleaning Project, is happy to take the request for help in harvesting fruit.
“We’re helping the food bank and we’re helping hungry people,” Hillman said during a recent evening pick in Cherry Creek. “And it all keeps the bears out of town.”
Hillman has been co-ordinating the project for three of its four years in existence. She’s a keen advocate of the time-honoured tradition of gleaning. She may even be the one who shows up at your door, her entire family in tow. Her daughter Iyla, five, and son Joshua, 10, were part of the picking team in Cherry Creek.
Sure, more hands make less work, but there is more at work there than work itself.
“Yes, I happily involve my children,” she explained. “It teaches them where their food comes from and helps teach them that we can make a difference in our community.”
Gleaning is the act of harvesting leftover crops from fields and orchards. This has been done for millennia, generally after the main harvest, as an act of communal sharing. In 18th century England, gleaning was a legal right for landless residents. In more recent times, gleaning has assumed a humanitarian role, a means of redistributing food to counter the effects of poverty.
Locally, a third to one-half of the gleaned fruit goes to valley charities — including Bread of Life, Salvation Army and Hupacasath Food Box — a third goes to the homeowner and a third to volunteers. Any leftover fruit unwanted by the homeowner is provided to the charities.
“I did the math. So far, we’ve picked 2,400 pounds of fruit this year,” Hillman said.
That’s well short their bumper season, though: “I know we picked 10,000 pounds one year.”
Roughly 40 volunteers help out with the local project. About half of those are regular helpers. This season, volunteers have been fewer due to the poor air quality in late August, Hillman said.
Following the orchard fruit ripening calendar, their busiest time is September-October. Generally, they are contacted by homeowners through word of mouth or the website at www.albernivalleygleaning.org. The site provides step-by-step instructions for homeowners or volunteer pickers. A $10 gleaning membership fee and orientation are mandatory for volunteers.
A gleaning project booth at the annual fall fair, Sept. 6-9 this year, is helping to spread the word. A fundraising square dance is set for Sept. 30 at McLean Mill.
“We’re always looking for more volunteers and more trees,” Hillman added. “It’s sad for us to drive by and see food on the ground. Keep bears safe from people,” she added.
Homeowner Christina Hines was pleased to host the gleaning group. Her golden plums were beginning to soften and drop. There always seems to be more fruit than she can manage.
“We were managing to keep up with it, but this year I was caught by the hot weather,” she explained. “It arrived two weeks early.”