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We have written about our friends at Not Far from the Tree several times (some of those are here and here).  We simply adore them and have met many great people and friends through them.  Their website is here.

The group was formed by Toronto resident (and New Brunswick native), Laura Reinsborough is a passionate advocate of our city, the environment, local eating and the intersection of all 3.  Laura, along with a small army of volunteers, are changing our city.

The non-profit program started by offering a service to home owners with fruit trees.  Fruit trees are lovely but can be a source of pain through their abundance – once you’ve eaten, shared  and preserved all you can, the remaining fruit often drops to the ground, makes a mess, smells, attract flies, gets in the way of the lawnmower, etc.  Not Far From the Tree will come to your house and clear your tree of all it’s fruit.  1/3 of the fruit goes to the tree owner, 1/3 to the volunteers and 1/3 to charity.

They harvested 8,135 pounds of fruit downtown Toronto last year.

Now they’ve expanded their focus:

The program is largely one to make us think different about the urban forest, our city and food sources.  The program is supported by the city (there had been initial reports of concerns that were completely overcome) and the group has tapped 12 urban Norway Maple trees to gather the syrup.  There is a sugaring off party this Sunday, March 14.  The event runs from 1-4pm (you can find the details here).

T-shirts are also available on their website.

I love the imagination of Laura and her team.  I adore that there will be people gathered around a late winter harvest from within our city walls.

If you’re in the area and want to meet some great people, be sure to pop by.  We haven’t planned our weekend yet but if we can make it, we’ll be there…