5'Primal Farms

Completion of Project-Beginning of Phase II

As I approach the completion of what was outlined for this project, I see it has only just begun. This last week, Wednesday September 18, 2013 I attended another of the quarterly Farm to School Planning Collaborative meetings. As I mentioned before, many of the people who have been helping and supporting the idea that has become Gleaning Hands were in attendance. I was able to give a short report on what has transpired over the last few months and the plans I have for the next several.

Some of those plans are:
Build and launch the real website for www.gleaninghands.org
Begin to promote the Gleaning Hands Idea in the Local Community
Put together Press Releases and News Paper Articles for publication
Meet with a Business Attorney and ask all the legal questions
Decide on a business model and structure
Ask more questions
Keep spreading the word and beginning to put together a calender based on harvest times
Connect with others who glean and share thoughts and ideas. Ask more questions.
Design a logo, letterhead and business cards
Ask more questions
Keep up with this blog until......letting the world know the process.

Always Keep the Mission and Vision in mind.

Vision: Rebuilding Community. Restoring Health.
Mission: Local community based volunteers connecting those who have with those who can to serve those who need.

Ask more questions.

I leave you with this. It is the rough draft of a flyer/handout that can be passed around as a method of introducing the idea of Gleaning Hands. All the standard information needs to be added such as mailing address, email, fax, phone, etc. However, my original idea is to build a foundation and basic structure which will allow others to use and build on what has been created here and growing it to suit their own special community needs. Organically.

Introducing

Gleaning Hands

A local, community based, group of volunteers

Connecting those who have, with those who can, to serve those who need.

What do we do with these Gleaning Hands of ours?

The volunteers of Gleaning Hands pick produce and garden crops that may otherwise go to ground or remain in the field unused.

What happens to the gleaned produce?

• 50% by weight of the gleaned fruit or produce is donated to the Julian School District Farm to School Collaborative. The fresh fruits and vegetables go directly to the kids via the school lunch program. The donation of fresh local fruits and vegetables enhances the school lunches at no additional cost to the kids or the district.

• 25% by weight is given back to the homeowner or farmer for their own use. If they wish, they can add their portion to the Farm to School Donation.

• The remaining 25% by weight will be split among the gleaning volunteers. This will, in a small way, help those who help others by providing them with fresh, local produce to take home and use as they see fit.

How can I get Gleaning Hands help at my home or Farm?

It’s easy. You can make a request on our website, call our volunteer request line, or send us a request via e-mail or snail-mail. You can ask for help for yourself or suggest a friend or a neighbor who may be in need of assistance. One of our volunteers will call to confirm permission, set a date, and arrange for any special items needed to perform the gleaning safely and efficiently.

What if I know of someone in need but want to remain anonymous?

No problem! Your secret is safe with us. No one need know you sent us to help. If you would like, your donation can be anonymous as well.

I would like to be a volunteer.

Potential volunteers may sign up on the Gleaning Hands website, via email, or by calling and leaving a message on the volunteer line. A member of Gleaning Hands will get back to you and discuss the requirements for becoming a volunteer with our group. We would be grateful for your help.

We are Gleaning Hands.

Restoring Community. Rebuilding Health.

www.gleaninghands.org

And so, the dream continues........

Gleaning Quince

Most people don't have any idea what Quince are. While gathering some large apple crates to use as raised beds here at 5'Primal Farms, I was shown a Quince tree. Its fruit have dropped to the ground and have rotted into compost for several years now. I did a little research and found that Quince have many uses and come in many varieties. There are some great websites with recipes and cooking instructions for quince. I found some YouTube videos as well.

Quince are high in pectin. Pectin is the stuff that makes jams and jellies thicken and gel. Often in the past, quince has been added to apples and pears to make them thicken better while making pies and other such stuff. I also found instructions in an old cookbook of mine for extracting the pectin for use as a gelling agent with other fruits and berries. I will scan and upload that info at a later date after I give it a try.

This week, we were given permission to glean the Quince tree. Below are the Still shots from our glean. I will follow these gleaning posts with photos and recipes on the In The Kitchen page of this blog in a couple of weeks. Quince store long term in a cool, dry place.

As you will see in the video of the Quince glean, we put all the rotting fruit into a seperate bucket. We also cleaned up the grounded apples around the trees near by. After the glean, I took the rotting fruit to Cook Pigs Ranch just outside of town to be fed to their happy, muddy, outside pigs. You can check out Cook Pig Ranch at www.cookpigs.com.

Here is a link to a wonderful article on Quince I found while researching this interesting fruit. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120288799

Gleaning Quince Video 2

Gleaning Quince Vidoe1

Donations to Gleaning Hands

Over the last couple of weeks we have been given donations by several people who have picked their own trees and have too much produce to use themselves. Word has gotten around that people can call me and I will get their excess to Jeremy's on the Hill, or Jeremy's on Campus as the lunch program is being called now.
We have received several bags of Anjou Pears from one donor. Six half bushels of plums from another generous donor. And offers of apples coming in the near future. I am so thankful to be able to be a connection getting fruit that would otherwise be unwanted to the kids who would otherwise not have access to fresh produce in such abundance.

In addition, I have received voice mail messages from friends and neighbors around town offering phone numbers and names of neighbors with trees and bushes of fruits, nuts and berries that go unpicked every year. All this is serious motivation to get working on the website over the winter and actually bring this project online in time for spring of next year.

I am currently thinking through how best to structure this project. Several ideas. Even though this could lend itself to becoming a 501c3 charitable organization, I'm not sure that is the best way to go. I would like to see this operate as a profitable business allowing the support of not only me, but others who could one day work for Gleaning Hands. I also would like to be as free from government regulation as possible. There is much regulation that comes with that 501c3 designation.

I would like to see folks donating because it the right thing to do for their community not just to get a tax deduction. I would like people to volunteer because they can subsidize their groceries with fresh produce through their own sweat and work not just to volunteer because it looks good to their friends and neighbors. I would love to see people volunteering and turning their portions into other items that could then be sold to help benefit them financially and to help support their families. So many possibilities.

If you don't like your job, go out an make one of your own!

Second Glean-Porter Homestead

Second Glean Stills-Porter Homestead

On September 7, 2013 I received a call from the Porters asking if we would like to come pick pears and grapes. No one else was available on short notice so I went myself. Here are the still photos of this glean. Video to follow.