A few people have asked me about the Gleaner Group, and I think I have sent out individual emails to people explaining, but for the rest of you who may be wondering~ a Gleaner Group is a group of people who go out to the local farms in their area and 'glean' what is left of the farmers crop for free. To get one started, you should contact your local food bank to see if they already have one going. If not, talk to whomever is in charge to get one going...then, you need to have individuals start calling around to U-Pick Farms, Local farmers, and anyone else that has crops and ask if you could come in at the end of season to finish picking.
Here is the biggest rule: You should pick everything you can, then you give to the food bank 10% off the top, then everyone GIVES AWAY 40%, and the last 50% is for you to keep.
We charge $20.00 at the beginning of the year (August) to cover the cost of gas when you have to drive a ways. I have a van, so I take 5 others in my car to save fuel, and sometimes we have to drive about 4-5 hours away. But it is so worth it. We were able to get free apples today, and next week we have fall raspberries and then more apples, potatoes, and pumpkins at the end of October. (A lot of the people don't want the pumpkins, but you can save the seeds for roasting and cook the rest of it and freeze or can it for pumpkin puree!)
If you have any more questions, please send me a private(?) note, as I don't always get back to check to see if I need to respond to anyone.
I want to help as many people as I can with this, as it is free food not to mention it helps the local food banks and I'm sure you all have friends/family that could use a few extra groceries now and again!
HUGS~
JinglebellesMom