Do you have an apple tree? Do you hate to see rotten apples on the ground going to waste? We have a solution!!

At our Grand Opening Festival on October 22nd, Richard Paget from ‘My Apple Juice’ will be pressing apples into delicious juice. Richard is on a mission to reduce food waste and bring communities together to turn our fruit harvest into delicious juices, and we need your help!

If you have an apple tree in your garden, on your street, or at your school or place of work, or know of a neighbour or friend who has excess fruit from their garden trees, pledge now to bring your fruit to the MERL on Thursday 20th or Friday 21st October and we will turn it into juice at the Festival. In return, you’ll receive bottled, pasteurised juice after the event!*

The aim is to create a database of fruit trees and ‘pledgers’ who can be contacted every year, so that in future as little as possible is wasted.

How it works…

1. To pledge your apples, email merlevents@reading.ac.uk any time from now until October 19th, with the following details:

Full name
Address (including post code)
Telephone number
Type of fruit (apples (cooking or eating) or pears are fine)
Location of tree (your home address, school, neighbour etc)
How many trees or approx weight of fruit you think you can provide
(See FAQs below)

2. Bring your fruit to the MERL on Thursday 2oth or Friday 21st October, or to the Festival on Saturday 22nd by 12pm.
We will make a note of the quantity so that you will receive the appropriate number of bottles of juice in return.

3. Come to the Festival to see your fruit turned into juice, or wait for us to contact you about collecting your juice once it has been processed and bottled.

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate our abundant autumnal harvest and stop precious fruit going to waste, so pledge your apples now!

*FAQs

1. When is the right time to harvest my apples?
   Different varieties of apples will be ready at different times between September and December – see next question!
2. How do I know if my apples are ready?
   If they come off the branch with a quarter turn they are ready. They will keep longer if you pick them when they come off the branch within a half turn. Store them in a crate somewhere cool.
3. Which varieties of apples can I bring for juicing?
   Any type of apple is suitable, including cooking apples, but please bring separate them and label the different varieties (you don’t need to know a name)
4. Can I bring other fruits?
   Pears will also work, but please separate from apples.
5. Is there a minimum or maximum quantity?
   Ideally, 10kg is a useful quantity. If you can bring 25Kg+ we can discuss having this pressed, bottled and labelled as your own ‘vintage’ for a small fee.
6. When will I get the juice?
   You can either take bottled juice on the day (which must be consumed within 3 days) or wait until the juice has been pasteurised and bottled and collect it from the museum. This juice will have a much longer shelf life.