WASTE NOT
It’s muddy at the edges of the orchard but, in among the trees, there’s grass underfoot. Still wet with dew, it conceals windfall apples that I try not to tread on as I reach for a shiny Braeburn.
In the time it takes me to select my apple and carefully twist it from its twig without damaging the tree, those picking beside me – experienced members of the East Kent Gleaning Group – have stripped the branches and are moving to the next tree over.
This orchard, on Selson Farm in Kent, has already been harvested by a team of professional pickers, but you wouldn’t know it. Farmer David Bradley estimates that around 15% of his crop is typically left unharvested – too small, too big, too green or with too many marks to meet the specifications of the supermarkets. It’s a source of
