Apple Harvest Spreads Love and Resources Across Baltimore

The numbers of people wanting to do good and people needing help have not waned during this Pandemic. The Baltimore Country Club through its enthusiastic and energetic Director of Horticulture, Cathy Wagner, coordinated a harvest through the Baltimore Orchard Project on September 21, 2020. We supplied the necessary tools, and the Baltimore Country Club supplied its able family members. The harvest was conducted with social distance by having each family be responsible for a tree and everyone wearing masks.

By the end of the night, we had harvested 422 pounds of apples from trees that hadn’t looked like they had much fruit on them. The weather made it a tough year for the BCC orchard, but the hard work of its member to leave no apple standing resulted in a triumphant harvest!

We had divided the harvest up into “A” apples that were ready to pop into your mouth; “B” apples that were perfect for baking with a few blemishes; and “C” apples that were ready to be taken by Cathy to a pig farm. We had 321.8 pounds of “A” apples, and 50 each of “B” and “C” apples.

Sharing the Harvest

In order to make sure that the apples were fresh and delicious, the Baltimore Orchard Project delivered the next morning all of the “A” and “B” apples to Sarah’s Hope Family Shelter in Sandtown-Winchester and Marian House, a holistic home to bring women who have battled abuse, addiction, and other trials from dependence to independence in Waverly.

The workers at Marian House were happy to receive not only the “A” apples but also the “B” apples so they could bake some apple pies. If you have a chance check out the great video on the Marian House’s website.

The Baltimore Orchard Project is pleased that it could be a bridge between the Baltimore Country Club and two wonderful Baltimore City organizations.