Mangled gardens have no fear; Fruits of Sherbrooke is here

By Mathew White

SHERBROOKE — Nothing bothers Cristina Piecha more than seeing good food go bad.  Walking around her community, she would cringe after seeing how many gardens were simply being ignored.

“A lot of apples falling to the ground, raspberries never being picked, rhubarb for sure never being picked,” said Piecha.

So in the fall of 2010, Piecha teamed up with a few members of the Sherbrooke Village Garden Club to form the “Fruits of Sherbrooke” – a community fruit-rescue team.  Since then, the group has been prowling the community, collecting every type of fruit imaginable.

“We thought we were really good rescuing (the fruit),” said Carol Cooper, chief of the Fruits of Sherbrooke.  “You think ‘this is a good thing.’ ”

With their newfound abundance of produce, the group started making a variety of pies, jams, juices and sauces.  Cooper said they made about 75 pies in the first week alone.

“It was crazy,” said Cooper.

When the season came to an end, the group hunkered down for the long Edmonton winter and did some serious planning.  But still, nothing could have prepared them for what this season has brought.

So far, Cooper said the group has picked about 600 pounds of rhubarb, and that’s not to mention the 50-plus pounds of raspberries and the countless pounds of everything else.

“It’s amazing how much is in just our community,” said Cooper.

Until recently, the team has been selling what they can at the Callingwood Farmer’s Market, but with the sheer amount of jam they’ve been producing, Cooper said they needed a new way of getting their product out there.

And so, the “Fruits of Sherbrooke” jam brand was born.

“I think the reason for the commercial line is ‘how do you legitimize this?’ ” said Cooper.  “If you can start getting it out to the real world, that what we grow locally can be ‘real’, maybe people will then say ‘you know what, I don’t need to buy from one of the commercial outlets, I can do it myself.’ ”

So far Piecha has been doing the majority of the fruit picking with the help of a select-few volunteers, but she’s hoping she can get the community to start picking and donating their own fruit in exchange for preserves, jam, etc.  She said this way people would be able to enjoy the fruit year round.

“We like the idea of having it in people’s cupboards in the winter when there is no fresh rhubarb and there is no fresh fruits on our trees,” said Piecha.  She also said that this is a great way for Edmontonians to eat locally during the winter.

But in the end, Piecha said the Fruits of Shebrooke is not just about selling, it’s also about teaching.  The group offers a day kitchen on Thursdays for anyone who’s interested in learning a few tricks of the trade.

“(We want to) bring the garden back into people’s lives,” said Piecha.