In an attempt to keep bears and other wildlife out of town this fall, the municipality, Parks Canada and the Jasper Local Food Society have teamed up to create the Jasper Fruit Share Program.
The program is simple in nature鈥� it partners local fruit tree owners with volunteer pickers.
鈥淰egetation specialists with Parks Canada always have issues with people who have fruit bearing trees, but don鈥檛 harvest them and the local food society never likes to see the food go to waste,鈥� said Jasper鈥檚 environmental stewardship coordinator Janet Cooper, adding that in the past bears have been known to wander into town to get the fruit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a perfect partnership.鈥�
According to Cooper, in an ideal world if a resident has a fruit tree on their property then they should be harvesting their own fruit, but she said she understands that some people don鈥檛 know what to do with certain types of fruit like crabapples.
鈥淪ometimes you buy a house with a fruit tree and you have no intent to use it, but we also have people in town that would love to make use of the fruit but don鈥檛 have the access,鈥� Cooper said. 鈥淪o this way residents can allow volunteers to come in and harvest that tree for them and if the resident wants to keep half of the fruit then that鈥檚 okay too.鈥�
Last year the Jasper Local Food Society held mini-workshops on how to utilize fruit trees like crabapples. The learning sessions mainly focused on how to craft homemade jellies. Cooper said to draw more attention to the fruit-sharing program the society plans to hold more workshops this year.
鈥淧eople will be so surprised because there鈥檚 actually so much you can do with these local fruits,鈥� Cooper said.
Although harvest season is still months away, Cooper said she鈥檚 already had several homeowners sign-up for the program and now she鈥檚 hunting for volunteers to meet the demand.
鈥淭he timing is pretty critical. We tried this out last year but by the time we got things organized a lot of the fruit had already ripened and fallen,鈥� Cooper said. 鈥淭his year we鈥檙e hoping to really get this program off the ground.鈥�
Those interested in the Jasper Fruit Share program can sign-up by contacting Cooper at [email protected] or 780-852-1563.
Kayla Byrne
[email protected]
