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Donate your surplus fruit to the Apple Amnesty
Do you have an apple tree with more fruit than you need? Take part in our ‘apple amnesty' and donate them to a good cause.
Do you have an apple tree with more fruit than you need? Take part in our ‘apple amnesty' and donate them to a good cause.
How it works
How it works
The gardeners from Penrose Roots2Recovery, Luton Orchards and Edible High Town have organised apple drop-off days to supplement our own harvest and get Luton's fruit turned into delicious juice. This is a not-for-profit initiative. Any income is invested back into our community gardening work in Luton.
Where and when can I drop off my apples?
Where and when can I drop off my apples?
We take apples during 2 periods:
Batch 1: Mon 25 Aug to Sat 13 Sep 2025
Batch 2: Mon 15 Sept to Sat 4 Oct 2025
The 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
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?
Can you collect my apples or help me pick?
Yes, if you have a large enough harvest, 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.
Donating lots of apples?
Donating lots of apples?
Donate 10kg or more to claim a free bottle of juice. Put your contact details on a piece of paper and tuck one into each of your bags or boxes. We'll give you a free bottle of juice when it's ready.
What apples can I donate?
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.
If your apples have fallen on the ground, check how bruised they are. If they fall on soft grass, they might be okay. If they fall on hard paving, they're likely too bruised and will go brown in a few days.
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?
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.
Sorting the good from the bad apples
Drying fruit into apple chips
What we do with your fruit
What we do with your 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 snacks 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.
What else we make
What else we 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.
We'll also 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.
The 2024 batch was delicious - waiting now for 2025 harvest
Where to get Luton Orchards Apple Juice
Where to get Luton Orchards Apple Juice
Once it's ready, you can buy our apple juice for £4.00 per bottle or 3 bottles for £10.00 while stocks last. order. Pickup is available from 43 Kingston Road, LU2 7RZ. We may also be able to deliver locally for orders of 3 bottles or more. To order and to check availability, contact us.
Who is behind the Apple Amnesty and why do we do this?
Who is behind the Apple Amnesty and why do we do this?
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.
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.
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.
History of the Apple Amnesty
History of the Apple Amnesty
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.
In 2024, we' had 350kg donated which made 300 bottles of juice.
You can read more about the Apple Amnesty in this article online.
We've been supported by Love Luton in 2023, and Food First in 2024 and 2025.
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