Have you met Val and Heather? That’s them on either side of me in the photo above. They’re two incredible women who have helped shape Not Far From The Tree to what it is today. They have volunteered their time as Supreme Gleaners with our fruit picking program and as lead committee members with Syrup in the City. They are among an incredible crew of volunteers who have dedicated parts of their lives – whether big or small – to making Not Far From The Tree the success that it is.
This success was recently celebrated at TheWIFTS International Visionary Awards Ceremony held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox here in Toronto. TheWIFTS Foundation is dedicated to “increasing public awareness of the accomplishments achieved by women whose unwavering dedication to their aspirations transcends economic and cultural divides to effectuate lasting impressions on society.” Previously held in L.A., this was the first year in Toronto.
Heather, Val, and I were there because I was given the Gaea Environment Award for my work in starting Not Far From The Tree. This is an incredible honour, made even more so as I met the amazing women who were my fellow honourees. I was deeply moved by the integrity of the work that was celebrated: filmmaker Frances Causey who created the documentary Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?, Rachel Zimmerman Brachman who is Solar System and Technology Education Specialist for NASA, and Sally Goodrich who – after her son was killed as a passenger on United flight 175 when it was hijacked and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center – then started a foundation to build schools and dig wells in Afghanistan.
And I can’t help but mention that Debbie Travis was also one of the honourees – and she tickled my son’s belly! (We haven’t washed it since.)
It was a true honour to receive the Gaea Environment Award. And yet it’s clearly not an individual effort: with nearly 1000 volunteers now contributing, 750 fruit tree owners, and 27 partner agencies, Not Far From The Tree is brought to life by all of those who put the concept into action.
In my/our acceptance speech, I gave the audience an assignment for the holiday season: to remember the true value of our food and the work that goes into it (often by women). Whether it be to somebody who grows your food, prepares it for you, saves the seed, protects the water, sets the table, or serves it up: give a heartfelt thank you this holiday season.
(P.S. Thanks, mom! Can you teach me your spaghetti sauce recipe?)
Tides Canada announced their roster of top ten social and environmental initiatives for 2011 this week. And, despite being a small project that is based in one city, Not Far From The Tree was honoured with this award among excellent projects from coast to coast to coast.
Among other things, Not Far From The Tree was chosen “for adding flavour to Toronto and harvesting fruit for the urban community!
Check out all of the projects selected for this honour, activating incredible work across Canada:
Thank you so much to all of our donors who have made the 2011 season possible. It’s amazing to think of all the recognition that Not Far From The Tree has received in such a short time – and the whole entire team, including volunteers, fruit tree owners, and donors, can share pride in this success.
Here’s looking forward to next year when we can proudly celebrate our fifth season!
[So much of Not Far From The Tree's success can be attributed to the dedication, hard work, and playfulness of Laurel Atkinson. She began as Parkdale/High Park Coordinator in 2009, helped out with Director duties when Laura was on maternity leave in 2010, and saw our fourth season through as Program Manager in 2011. These fruit picking adventures wouldn't have been the same without Laurel. We wish her the very best for her next adventures.]
The time has come for me to be moving on from my role as Program Manager. Knowing that I’ll always stay involved with Not Far From The Tree, in some way, shape or form, makes this a joyous and celebratory time for me as I reflect on my adventures of the past three years.
It’s easy for me to see how much my life has changed for the better by the people and (of course!) the fruit trees I’ve met. My “fruit goggles” are firmly planted on my face, and wherever I go in the city (or in the world), I see fruit everywhere. Seeing a fruit tree lights up my heart because I see possibility — not just bark and branches. I’ve come to see fruit trees as a promise of something more: the promise of community, friends, sharing, and an afternoon adventure. I see the promise of a more just society, and a greener environment.
There are too many people to thank in one short blog post. There are people who began as volunteers but are now friends; there are fruit tree owners who started as words in a database but became inspirations; and, of course, there are my colleagues who have shared their inspiration, passion, and laughter on a daily basis.
Thanks, folks, for making my time as Program Manager with Not Far From The Tree a time like no other, and for giving me countless opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. There’s a small fruit tree in my heart, planted firmly and growing vigorously.
[Thanks so much to Supreme Gleaner Rebecca Dehmassi for sharing this story. If you have a story to share about your fruit picking adventures, by all means send it along to info@notfarfromthetree.org.]
We all know about the delicious fruits that Not Far From the Tree volunteers have been harvesting from our urban forest, but did you know that there are also some great non-gastronomical ways to enjoy the bounty? Many of the plants around us can be used to make natural dyes. Aboriginal Peoples have been using dyes made from roots, bark, and lichen to create elaborate regalia. And the beautiful colours in Persian rugs have been traditionally extracted from various flowers.
I recently tried making dye using the elderberry shrub that I planted a few years ago, which is now a vigorous producer of fruit. Those of us who have gleaned elderberries know that the purple fruit is loaded with colour, and I’m reminded of this when I have to clean the dishes after making elderberry jam!
Here’s an easy method I used to transform my ordinary white scarf into a vibrant new purple one.
First I made the mordant, which is the fixative that sets the dye to the fabric so that the colour doesn’t wash away. There are different kinds of fixatives for different dyes and fabrics. I used a simple salt solution – 1 cup of salt for every 8 cups of water. I put the scarf in the solution, brought it to a boil, and simmered for about an hour.
Then I made the dye bath by boiling the elderberries in water for about an hour and straining out the berries.
After removing the scarf from the mordant and rinsing in cool water, I immersed it in the dye.
The scarf was simmered in the dye bath for about 30 minutes. The longer you do this, the darker the colour will be.
On this strangely mild late-November day, I’m about to hop on my bike for a trip to Havergal College. I’ve been invited to speak as part of their Mash-Up Mondays when two speakers collide for a curated conversation. I’m delighted and honoured to be speaking alongside Joshna Maharaj.
Chef, food activist, and now also a member of Not Far From The Tree’s Steering Committee, Joshna is an amazing force behind Toronto’s food movement. If you’re ready to be wowed and inspired, watch the talk she recently gave for TEDxToronto:
Four years now of picking fruit from Toronto’s trees! Wow. As the (locally-produced) cherry on top, we held a big bash at the new Centre for Social Innovation in the Annex last week. It was a night of good food, good friends, and a great party – as promised.
It was a successful event on so many levels: we danced, we laughed, many won great raffle prizes, we shared in good food and drink, a new line of greeting cards made their debut in the world (more on that soon), and although the focus was to celebrate the season we also raised $3000 to support our programs into 2012. Way to go, team!
As one fun flavour for the night, we had an apple-picking phootbooth set up. Check out the slideshow above. (They’re also on Facebook.)
It is with great excitement that we announce an exciting fundraising initiative in support of Not Far From The Tree by local band Forest City Lovers. On their cross-Canada tour that launched yesterday, they’ll be donating $1 from the sale of all items at the merch table to Not Far From The Tree! In their words, from their website:
We have friends that volunteer for this org. They have a blast picking and it’s really amazing how it helps foster the neighbourhood community. The food bank gets fresh, ripe fruits to dispense to those who need it and the people that help out get something too. Pretty neat eh?
This month we will donate $1 to NFFTT for each t-shirt, tote bag or cd that we sell on our tour or through our online store. And, as a bonus, we’ll donate another $0.50 if you take a photo of you with your swag and tag it on our Facebook page. Easy enough, eh? Go tell your friends.
We are excited to spread the word about NFFTT and hope that it will encourage groups to start in other cities. We’ll see you on the road!
15/11/11 – Thunder Bay at the Apollo
16/11/11 – Winnipeg at the Lo Pub
17/11/11 – Saskatoon at the Fez
18/11/11 – Calgary, AB at the Palomino
19/11/11 – Edmonton at the Black Dog
21/11/11 – Kelowna at the Bean Scene
23/11/11 – Vancouver at the Railway Club
25/11/11 – Edmonton at the Haven
26/11/11 – Regina at the Exchange
29/11/11 – Sudbury at the Fromagerie Elgin
Will you be at the big fruit bash tomorrow night? Check out some of the AMAZING raffle prizes to be won, thanks to generous local businesses who have donated:
A private preserving session for 4 with the local canning celebrities of Well Preserved fame!
… And more! Come to the event tomorrow to find out. There will also be awesome door prizes.
We’re also ready to tempt your tastebuds:
SOMA Chocolatemaker has taken our locally gleaned grapes and is transforming them into a chocolate delight. Their creations from our crabapples were the big hit of the Picnic at the Brickworks this year, so watch out!
There will be mini grilled cheeses thanks to Cobs Bread and Cheese Magic (with gluten-free and lactose-free options thanks to Fiesta Farms!)
[This blog post comes courtesy of our great friends from Hypenotic.]
The big moment has arrived. As we speak Barry’s face is being smushed onto to the top of 100 000 Beau’s Beer bottles. Starting Thursday you can get your 4 packs of Lug Tread and Night Marzen at the LCBO. But that’s really just the start.
Beau’s and Hypenoticare joining forces to donate $2 (1 each) to Not Far From the Tree every time someone takes a picture of themselves with a Barry’s Beaus Beer Cap and tags it to Hypenotic’s Facebook page.
Our goal is to get 1000 pictures and together donate $2000 to help Not Far From the Tree’s 800 volunteers pick Toronto’s fruit trees–you’ll literally be turning beer caps into fruit.
We’ll be cracking open the first bottles of Barry Beau’s Beer caps at Not Far From the Tree’s End of Season Celebration on Thursday November 10th. We’ll be sure to take loads of photos to start the donations rolling in.
The End of Season celebration is open to everyone who wants to kick up their feet, eat, drink and celebrate the success of an organization that has been widely lauded for making good use of healthy food, addressing climate change and building community–all through the act of sharing Toronto’s abundance of fruit.
Watch this page and our Facebook page for updates about this initiative and check out Barry’s own feelings about being featured on 100,000 Beaus Beer Caps by checking out http://faceonacap.com/
