We joined the Friends of St Joseph’s Orchard for the last round of apple picking. Through a team effort, we picked around 30 sacks of apples. These apples will go to good causes, including NW7 Hub, North Finchley Community Grocery and the local Chalet Estate.

Many of the apples within easy reach had already been picked, so we made good use of the available apple pickers to collect those growing higher up. As these apples were specifically intended for eating, we needed to make sure they would last, so we were especially careful to select the best-looking ones for the good causes. But don’t worry! The apples with bruises, blemishes or bug holes will still be put to good use.

Our third visit to St Joseph's Orchard to help the Friends group was the last for apple juicing. I arrived late from a morning session and there were already half a dozen sacks at the top of the hill and another dozen by the fence, lots of them bramleys.

I briefly got to meet some of the brave fleet of pickers who'd been there since the morning. All in, 14 people showed up over the course of the session. Then I got stuck in to picking mostly windfalls from the spartan row. Loads of lovely crisp and juicy apples scattered along the floor. Tim, John, Martha and then Sue helped us for another hour or two, going along the rows. They also have joybells, golden delicious (not doing well), and arthur w barnes - at least those are the ones I know about. The summer hasn't been kind, but the old trees know what they're doing.

Great to briefly meet Sean on his way out, and Martha, both of whom signed up through the Daniella's list for the Barnet Community Harvesters. Tim reckons they've picked nearly 2 tons of apples this year, with another 2-3 still in the orchard. Not all are ready yet, but he'd like it to not go to waste. So BCH may organise further picks through to bring apples to foodbanks and the North Finchley Community Grocery and Goodgym will do our best to help!

Round two of our support for the apple orchard volunteers at St Joseph's in Mill Hill was epic! 4 Goodgymmers helped Tim, John and a host of locals scour the trees for fresh fruits and windfalls, gathering almost as much as last time. We found spartans and bramleys applenty, plus some of the smaller sweet varieties.

Some of the rows are full of fruit but they won't come off the trees easily due to the drought, including the many golden delicious, which are tiny. They're hoping might swell up a bit with the recent rains and be ready soon.

We closed the session with a fantastic weight training round: lugging the sacks to the fence, then up the hill to where the van would arrive to collect them. Some of the apples went to the NW7 Hub, North Finchley Community Grocery, Cottage Home Residents and to the horses in the fields near the orchard.

There are still a few tons left to pick, so the next big session will be this Saturday - sign up here.

3 Goodgymmers joined 4 locals and Daniella, the unofficial Apple Queen of Barnet and organiser of the community harvesters, for a pick on Lodge Lane. There was only one tree in the garden, but it was a biggy!

With 8 fruit pickers we gathered 3 crates in under an hour. Two crates are for food banks and the other we sorted for people to take for cooking compote, pies and dehydrating, as they have bruises or other kinds of damage. There's plenty more up the tree for residents with many of the lower apples not yet ripe, so an easy pick for a moderately tall person / good jumper.

Barnet Community Harvesters gathered a crack team of pickers for a run on the Gordon Road Allotments in Finchley, and Goodgym was there to cheer them on. Cherian, Paul and I rocked up in the weirdest flash rainstorm, with a rainbow glowing overhead and a wild mix of sun and rain still spitting down. But Daniella was there with fruit pickers, harvesting sacks and crates, along with 5 other volunteers, rearing to go.

We started on the two big community apple trees near the top of the allotment. The ground around them was already littered with windfalls, but there were plenty more nestling in the branches. We gathered nearly three full crates, one of a perfumed pink apple a bit like a Discovery, and another two of an unknown green cooker. Then, mid-way through climbing into one tree, the allotmenteers confirmed permission to pick a plum tree deeper into the grounds.

In all, we gathered over 40kg of apples, and around another 5-10kg of plums. We also gathered some of the windfall and stuff we knocked while wielding the fruit pickers, and left it on the allotment sharing table for others to enjoy.