Today is day 8 of Blogtober and the suggested prompt is: “The Modern Harvest: Consider how the concept of “harvest” has evolved in contemporary, urbanized lives”. Again, I’m sticking closely to the prompt today as I want to share a modern harvest idea that I’ve noticed happening in recent years: community apple juicing.
The Modern Harvest
When we think of the word harvest, it often conjures up romantic images of golden fields, ripe crops, and farmers reaping the fruits of their labour. In the past, harvest marked a time of abundance, a communal effort to gather and preserve food for the colder months ahead. It also makes me think about the church’s “Harvest festival” to say thank you for the food the farmers produce.
But in our modern, urban world, the traditional concept of harvest has evolved. While fewer of us may work the land ourselves or be completely self-sufficient, the idea of gathering and celebrating nature’s bounty has not disappeared. One aspect I notice is, that even when it’s not as necessary, we humans still feel the natural survival instinct to preserve our food. For example, while in the past, we had to make jam to preserve a harvest of fruits to get through the winter, in modern times some people buy the fruit to make the jam. We buy onions to pickle, rather than pickle our surplus produce because it’s necessary. This reminds me of people buying ingredients for pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, when of course originally people ate pancakes the day before Ash Wednesday to use up all their fat and eggs etc before giving them up for Lent.
Grow Your Own
Increasingly (perhaps since Covid) many people are growing more vegetables in their gardens. I really admire people who grow a lot of vegetables in their gardens or allotments. I remember my mum and dad growing lots when I was younger and my mum has an impressive fruit and vegetable plot again now. Over the summer, I was very grateful for the fresh fruit and vegetables, such as gooseberries, courgettes and runner beans, gifted to us by my mum, aunt and uncle, especially due to the increase in food prices. Every year I mean to grow more than the hardy herb boxes I currently have on the go, but I find it hard to find the spare time to invest in our garden. Once the kids are older, I want my own vegetable garden.
A Modern Harvest: The Community Juicing Project
The modern harvest has taken on new forms, especially as communities become more focused on sustainability and the need to reduce food waste. We see people donating their surplus vegetables to community fridges and kitchens. The spirit of harvest is re-emerging differently—through urban agriculture, community gardens, and local food initiatives. These modern forms of harvest focus not on mass production but on sustainability, local sourcing, and reducing waste. One example is the community juicing initiative, such as in Pembrokeshire, where residents come together to collect surplus apples from gardens and orchards. In an age of food waste, it’s a simple yet powerful solution. Many people with apple trees often find themselves with far more fruit than they can consume, and much of it goes uneaten. Instead of letting this excess go to waste, the community collaborates to gather these apples, press them, and turn them into fresh, local juice. The Power of Community Juicing At first glance, juicing surplus fruit might seem like a small, grassroots effort, but its impact is far-reaching. For one, it reduces food waste—a critical issue in today’s world where millions of tons of perfectly good food are discarded each year. It also fosters a sense of community, where people who might otherwise never meet come together around a shared goal. The juicing process itself becomes a social event, with neighbours chatting as they pick apples, press juice, and bottle it up to share.
In Pembrokeshire, the idea of community juicing is not only about making the most of excess fruit but also about preserving a sense of connection to the land and each other. People who live in urban or semi-urban environments can sometimes feel disconnected from the rhythms of nature, but projects like this bring them closer to the natural cycle of growth, harvest, and nourishment. Something is grounding about picking fruit with your own hands, knowing it won’t go to waste, and seeing it transformed into something as tangible and delicious as fresh juice.
Where to Juice Surplus Apples in Pembrokeshire
When you have a couple of apple trees in your garden or on your land you can quickly end up with a surplus of apples and there are only so many apple pies and crumbles you can make and only so many spare apples you can offload to your friends and neighbours. One efficient way to preserve your apple harvest is to juice and pasteurise it. If you don’t have your own juicing, bottling and pasteurising equipment, you can juice your apples at a community event. Read on for more information.
Clynfyw Care Farm Apple Juicing Service
Clynfym Care Farm in Abercych, has offered a community apple juicing service in North Pembrokeshire since 2014. Starting slowly, it has grown year on year until last year they juiced over 11,000 bottles for around 170 different people.
‘It’s a simple system,’ said Clynfyw’s Jim Bowen. ‘People bring their apples in, we juice, pasteurise and bottle them and then they can enjoy the juice for up to a year. It is really hard to keep apples fresh and stop them rotting, but by juicing the apples, the goodness is stored and nothing goes to waste.”
Clynfyw Care Farm is the home to ten adults with learning disabilities and a day service for around 25 others who get involved in farm-based projects including growing vegetables, making vermicompost, charcoal making in the summer and juicing in the autumn. Each project has developed based on participant’s interests and what they want to do, with many people looking forward to the challenge of juicing.
“We set up this scheme to help with local food security and reducing the carbon footprint of the food we eat,” said Jim.
Clynfyw’s apple juice service is open until the end of October. If you have apple trees and would like to access the service, please call 01239 841236. They are also writing a book about innovative, inclusive land use in a climate emergency. If you would like to contribute to it, please email jim.clynfyw@gmail.com
Cwn Arian’s Community Apple Juicing
There’s no better way to welcome autumn than with Cwn Arian’s much-loved annual apple juicing events! This year, they’ll visit community centres across Pembrokeshire, turning apples that might otherwise go to waste into delicious, fresh apple juice.
They invite the public to bring their friends, apples, and containers, and join them for a fun day out! If you’d like to take your apple pulp home for compost or to feed chickens, don’t forget to bring a bag or trug too.
Know someone who can’t get to their apples—perhaps an elderly neighbour or someone with a busy schedule? Why not offer to collect and press their apples so they too can enjoy some fresh juice? Let’s make sure no good apples go to waste!
If you’re planning to juice your apples, don’t forget to bring:
- Sterilized bottles for your juice
- Trugs or bags for the pulp
Apple Juicing Dates:
Sat 5th Oct in Walwyn’s Castle Sat 12th Oct in Tremarchog/St Nicholas Sat 19th Oct at Scolton Manor Sat 26th Oct, Cilgerran with Ffynnon Sun 27th Oct in Moylegrove Sat 2nd Nov in Haverfordwest at HaverHub
Join Cwm Arian and celebrate autumn in the sweetest way possible!
I think these are great initiatives and will be telling Grampy about this as he grows lots of apples. I wish I had an apple tree.
The Future of Harvest
Today, it’s clear that the idea of harvest is as relevant as ever—just in a different form. The modern harvest isn’t necessarily about large-scale agriculture anymore; instead, it’s about local efforts, sustainability, and using what we have efficiently and thoughtfully. Projects like community juicing remind us that, no matter where we live or how disconnected we may feel from traditional farming, we are still part of nature’s cycle. We still need to grow food and still need food to eat and drink. By participating in these modern forms of harvest, we reconnect with the land, reduce waste, and, perhaps most importantly, rediscover the power of community.
Harvest has always been about more than just food—it’s about sharing abundance, working together, and being thankful for the gifts of the earth.
What does the modern harvest mean to you? Have you been to a community juicing event?
Read more: Blogtober posts
What a great project for the community. I would love some real fresh apple juice. I remember when my Dad had an allotment and would grow all sorts of fruit and vegetables I can remember taking cabbages and lettuces and other produce around to neighbours, they would reward me with a tuppence. (yes, I’m that old, lol but I would have been very young at the time!)
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Aww, That’s lovely. xxx