Wastage

[AnnieD]

It has broken my heart this year to see so much wastage on our site. Raspberries all over the place rotting on the plants, squashes left lying there to rot. The man behind me put in 2 rows of tomatoes, they had loads of fruit but he didn't pick any of them and they just rotted away.
It's so sad when there are so many people in this country who can't afford decent food 

[AnnieD]

[Beersmith]

Yes, it is most perplexing.  After all, the grower has put in quite a lot of work to grow the crop, and perhaps a little expense for the seeds.  In addition, some of the crops that go to waste store well or are easy to freeze, or could go into jam or other preserves.

What I fully understand is that having a glut of a crop from time to time is unavoidable. I don't blame anyone for ending up with more produce than they can use. It happens to me every season, even if it isn't always the same produce.

I have an easy solution that works for me. I simply give any excess to my neighbours. But I am fortunate, as I am retired and happy to devote a couple of hours to harvesting even if I don't want the stuff  myself and seeing if neighbours fancy any. So, being charitable, perhaps they are time poor. I don't have any other ideas or suggestions.

Curiously what you say about people struggling to get by resonates. Likely both partners working to make ends meet, and in the autumn very little daylight so weekends only for some. Who knows?

Even more perplexing, those plot holders who pay their rent every year, hardly bother to cultivate anything, get warned about eviction if they do not keep their plot tidy, then they turn up, strim or spray the weeds then disappear again until spring, when they pay the rent and repeat the same process.

[rowbow]

On our allotments, if anyone has a glut we putt it on a table outside the site hut, for people to help themselves, it works quite well. 

[ed dibbles]

I see the same thing AnnieD. It amazes and frustrates me that potholders go to the expense and effort to grow crops that then aren't harvested.

Two categories spring to mind. People who are keen in the spring but give up by mid summer, leaving the crops they so carefully planted to waste and those who grow crops but leave them if/when  they don't grow the same as the ones they are used to from the supermarket. Supermarkets have a lot to answer for.

One neighbouring plot holder put a lovely large turnip , perhaps four inches in diameter, on his compost heap. When I asked about it he said it was too big and inedible. He said I could have it, peeled it at home and it was perfect inside, not inedible by any stretch of the imagination. He could have done the same but because it didn't fit his idea of how a turnip should be to him it was useless.

As an aside beetroot can grow to huge sizes and still be perfectly good to eat.

I am not perfect by any means, often using cultivation methods that others my tut at. (glyphosate use being just one) But I never waste crops, even if there is a glut they get processed and frozen for later use. Or waste food in general.

[ancellsfarmer]

I dont have space for tree fruits so , given the chance, seek to assist the fortunate owners of such , with offers involving "share -cropping" (Two for me, one for you!!)
I spoke with one such gentleman who had a fine pear tree collapsing under the weight of Comice pears.
His reply?
" I dont think they are edible, I've been here ten years and never eaten one. They make such a mess"
He declined my offer.
Bah!

[squeezyjohn]

If only there was a way some of this perfectly good fresh food could be put to use in food banks - but ours won't take anything that isn't processed and packaged.  I'm guilty of letting things go sometimes - I have an absolute ton of pristine swiss chard at the moment that I can't give away ... some of it will stand over winter but all the outer leaves will get frosted.

[Beersmith]

Ancellsfarmer

RE: Comice pears.
"I dont think they are edible, I've been here ten years and never eaten one. They make such a mess."

I would be unable to resist having another try. Next season offer to pick a few and ripen them. Perhaps he just doesn't realize pears are far better picked unripe. If he has been leaving them on the tree until they seem ripe, they will be mushy and mealy inside.  Return a few when they are at their best and hopefully he'll change his mind.

[pumkinlover]

Neither did I!
Thanks 

[Digeroo]

I have found it difficult to find people who want courgettes though I have two takers for swiss chard.   

I am rather guilty.  I have an apple tree and though my OH would eat them but he left them and they all fell on the ground.  They are spotty so nobody wants them.  I would not mind so much but I have one of those wind the handle peelers.

The food banks will not take fresh food but our local charity shop will take produce and sell it.   Seems those most in need only eat tinned vegetables.   

[BAK]

similar to rowbow .. there is a garden seat next to the car park on our site. It acts as a recycling point.

I was sold some squash seeds which turned out to be not what I ordered. I ended up with 50+ fruits (cricket ball sized) that I did not want. I left them on the seat and all bar two were gone within 24 hours. Over-sized courgettes are regulars on the seat, and they all go, plus a range of other crops.

The seat is also used to recycle tools and other surplus non-consumable items. I always remember a plot holder who passed away about 7 or 8 years ago. He had an enormous amount of stuff .. 3 spades!, 3 forks, trowels, hand forks, hose pipes, various wooden frames covered with chicken wire or fleece, etc etc etc. He had no relatives and nobody was interested in claiming any of it. All the stuff ended up on / around the seat which quite literally resembled a chandler's shop. It was a time when we had snow in December. Snow or no snow, Christmas or no Christmas, the vast majority of the stuff was gone in double quick time.

[johhnyco15]

one of our plot holders has some pigs he looks after so they get a boot load a week of unwanted unloved stuff

[Duke Ellington]

On our site the gluts are collected and delivered to our local hospice.
Duke 🙂

[lavenderlux]

We have a table near our trading shed for surplus produce and also if there's a lot I take it to our nearest charity shop - they can't get enough courgettes to meet their demand!    We also recycle people's surplus items like tools, flower pots and trays and very often the taker will give a donation to our funds for running the field.

I also share produce with my neighbours at home - but today I heard what is probably the silliest thing - a plot holder who has three chickens on her five rod (all we are allowed on a five rod plot) is giving up her plot (she hasn't done very much cultivation since she took it on in August) because she was getting too many eggs from the chickens and couldn't use them all.   I'm sure her neighbours would have willingly accepted freshly laid free range eggs and given her some payment for them towards her chicken food