Donate to the Luton Apple Amnesty
Do you have an apple tree with more fruit that you can use? Donate the fruit to us and we'll get them turned into delicious Luton Orchards apple juice.
Where to get Luton Orchards Apple Juice
How to claim your free bottle if you donated to the scheme
If you donated more than 10kg of fruit, you can claim a free bottle of apple juice. You can pick up your free bottle at 43 Kingston Road, LU2 7RZ by appointment. Please contact konni@lutonorchards.org to arrange a time.
How to get apple juice
You can buy our apple juice for £4.00 per bottle or 3 bottles for £10.00 while stocks last. order. Pick up is from 43 Kingston Road, LU2 7RZ, we may be able to deliver locally for orders of 3 bottles or above. Please contact us first to order and to check availability: konni@lutonorchards.org .
How the apple amnesty works
The 2024 donation scheme is now closed. Thank you to everyone who donated. We had approximately 300kg of apples which yielded 280 bottles of delicious juice. You can already register for next year's donation scheme.
Do you have more apples than you can use yourself? During apple season we're taking in donations of apples to get them pressed. Take your apples in bags or boxes to one of our drop-off locations during the drop-off dates in September and October. Donate more than 10kg of usable apples and claim a free bottle of Luton Orchards apple juice. Read on for more details.
Helpful hints
Where can I drop off my apples?
Drop off stations are:
Mon, Tue and Thu 10am to 3pm: Penrose Roots2Recovery Garden, New Bedford Road, by the metal gate, opposite Cranleigh Gardens, LU3 1LL
Mornings and evenings any day: private home, 43 Kingston Road, Luton, LU2 7RZ, leave at the bottom of the front steps
Tuck in your address on a piece of paper if you're donating more than 10kg, so we can give you a free bottle of juice once it's ready. Give us a heads up that you'll be dropping off apples, so we know what's coming!
Can you collect my apples or help me pick?
Yes, if you have a large enough harvest and access is straightforward, we may be able to visit you and even help you pick. Make sure you let us know by registering first, and we'll contact you to discuss.
What apples can I donate?
Apples must be ripe and relatively un-bruised. We take 'cookers' and 'eaters' aka 'dessert' apples. No crab apples, please. We're aiming for no more than 20% cooking apples in the mix, so that the juice is well-rounded. We may even throw in a few pears, for sweetness.
How can I tell if my apples are ripe?
Cup the apple in the palm of your hand. Gently twist and tilt it upwards. If it comes off without effort, it's ready to pick.
Pips should have turned black. Cut a few apples open to check the colour. If they're still white or cream, the apple needs more time to ripen.
What happens with the donated fruit
We’ll sort the apples for quality and to get a good mix. And any fruit we cannot use will be either dried into fruit chips or composted locally.
We do not make the juice ourselves, but take the apples to be professionally pressed, bottled and lightly pasteurised. Then we'll label up the bottles.
The finished juice will store for up to 18 months and you'll be able to buy it from us and selected local shops.
That said, we'll be trying out our own small-scale pressing equipment this year, and you'll be able to get stuck in. Look out for dates on our Events page.
Where can I buy the juice?
We're hoping to be at any Christmas fetes in High Town and in the Luton Hoo Walled Garden shop. Other locations to be confirmed, and you'll be able to order directly. The price is £4 per bottle or 3 for £10.
And remember, if you donate more than 10kg of apples, you will get a free bottle of juice.
What else do you make?
Dried apple. We're drying apples that are bruised into soft apple chips.
Fruit leather. We cook apples to a pulp with a little honey and dry it into fruit leather.
Both are super popular with children and a good alternative to fruit gummies and sweets.
How best to store apples
Only store fruit that you picked from the tree, not windfall. They should perfect and unbruised so that they will survive in storage. Layering apples 2 to 3 deep in a crate works well, and gives you easy access to pick out and discard any rotten ones.
For longer storage, put about 5 at a time in loosely tied clear plastic bags, stacked into a crate. From time to time, check up on your apples and remove/use and less than perfect ones.
Late ripening apples tend to store better than early ones, which are best eaten soon after picking
Who is behind the Apple Amnesty
The Luton Orchards Apple Amnesty is a not-for-profit initiative run by the people behind Edible High Town and Luton Orchards, in collaboration with Penrose Roots2Recovery.
This year’s amnesty is kindly supported by the team at Food First Luton, who are helping us get the word out and sponsor demonstration pressing equipment and staff time for workshops.
We want to:
stop surplus fruit going to waste (we'll still leave enough for the birds)
get people excited about locally grown fruit and heritage apple varieties
bring deliciously fresh local apple juice to everyone in Luton
support community gardening and orchards work in Luton
The profit on a bottle is small, estimated around 70p. We invest any surplus back into our community gardening and orchard work in Luton.
History
We introduce our very first batch of Luton Orchards apple juice in 2022.
The juice is made from donated apples that have grown trees grown in private back gardens and community orchards across High Town and Round Green. In 2023, we extended the Apple Amnesty across and beyond Luton.
The apples were then professionally pressed and bottled, with just a little vitamin C added to stop the juice from oxidising during bottling. Made this way, it'll last up to 18 months (if you can wait that long)
Our 2023 batches flew off the shelves. We had 250kg of fruit donated, which made 227 bottles of apples. The juice was sold at the High Town Christmas Fair, Luton Hoo Walled Garden and directly.
I fought to keep a few bottles so we can compare with next year's vintage. You can read more about the Apple Amnesty in this article online.
In 2024, we'd love to be able beat our record of 227 bottles of juice.