A real glean in an organic plum orchard near Castroville. The farm had been in the same family since the late 19th century. We were doing the third pass through this orchard, so pickings were slim. It took sharp eyes and a little luck to find the remaining plums that were ripe but not over-ripe. The ground was dotted with too-ripe plums that had already dropped, and we had to be careful shaking the trees not to bruise the remaining fruit. Still, we gleaned a couple of hundred pounds of wonderful San Jose plums that the food banks and food pantries will be delighted to get. And we got to take plums home. Most of us grabbed bags of slightly over-ripe fruit to slurp immediately or cook into a favorite jam or sauce.
Listen to stories from the July 25th glean
1 comments:
It was wonderful to hear the stories of the old days in Maine concerning growing practices and the
customs of harvesting and eating and preserving. I can tell the interviewer that both commercial farms
along the Merrimack river in New Hampshire allowed gleaning at the end of harvest for crops such as peas
string beans and strawberries. My memory is not so strong, but I do think the gleaners would come late in the day too.
I was one of a few local kids, along with the adult professional pickers, and we were not told directly but did
understand what the gleaners represented. BTW in 1972 we got 10 cents per quart in a 12 quart flat, I think, and
a kid could pick about 10 flats in a ten hour day 7am-6pm 1 hr lunch.
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