A message from the directorNow four seasons strong, Not Far From The Tree continues to capture the hearts and imaginations of Torontonians. As I write this, the blossoms have passed and the first ripe fruits have been plucked from the trees. It’s an exciting time of year when the potential of the harvest is still yet to be fully realized.

The 2011 harvest season kept us active with mulberries, grapes, apples and so much more. We doubled our scope from 7 to 14 neighbourhoods. We got a fancy new fleet of cargo bikes, boosting our ability to transport all of our fruit and equipment sustainably. And we launched the first City Cider event at Spadina House, which was such a success that we’re now looking to make it an annual event.

Behind the scenes, we improved our capacity by becoming a project of Tides Canada Initiatives, forming our inaugural Steering Committee, and taking part in a myriad of professional development opportunities.

As a result, we are now more robust than ever for our fifth anniversary season! We’re deepening our roots this year by sticking to our current scope of 14 neighbourhoods. The goal is to strengthen every aspect of our programming (e.g., volunteering, equipment, scheduling, admin, fundraising) so that when we’re ready to expand across all of Toronto it will be done with excellence and ease.

Already we have doubled our number of Supreme Gleaners for the 2012 harvest, bringing our total crew to 50 trained volunteers ready to lead picks on our behalf. With the overall number of volunteers now tipping 1200, Not Far From The Tree has never been stronger.

The fruit is ripe and we’re not holding back: Ready, set, pick!

In fruitful solidarity,

Laura Reinsborough Founder & Director Not Far From The Tree

our teamDirector – Laura Reinsborough Program Manager – Laurel Atkinson Picking Coordinator – Marc Michalak Event Coordinator – Robin Newman

supreme gleanersJunyan Boon, Hanna Caplan, Chloe Cloves, Val Colden, Rebecca Dehmassi, Linda Doran, Fawn Edwards, Kerri Flood, Simon Ford, Malgosia Halliop, Jenna Hossack, Rebekka Hutton, Megan Kenzie Vernon, Sarpreet Khera, Mike Lawler, Steve Leckie, Christine Markwell, Avery Peters, Lisa Pitman, Bradley Smith, Amanda Verschuere, Ben Watt-Meyer, Silvia Yee

steering committeeChris Chen Jordy Gold Jodi Lastman Joshna Maharaj Ben Marans Ravenna Nuaimy-Barker Derek Smith

internsDanielle Benton Lindsay Campbell Alix Jolicoeur Vincent Populus Amanda Johnson

volunteers1000+ and counting… Thank You!

addressNot Far From The Tree 401 Richmond St. W., Suite 365 Toronto, ON M5V 3A8

info@notfarfromthetree.org 647.774.PICK (7425)

Design: Dana Harrison Cover Illustration: Lindsay Campbell

Creative Contributors: Lindsay Campbell Gregory Alan Elliott Edward Pond Rannie Turingan

Did you know? Not Far From The Tree was named one of the “Tides Top Ten for 2011” by Tides Canada for “building innovative solutions to complex social and environmental issues.”

In 2011, Laura’s hard work in founding Not Far From The Tree was recognized with the Gaea Environment Award from the WIFTS Foundation, a Vital People grant from the Toronto Community Foundation, and a Women of the Earth Award from the Yves Rocher Foundation. In addition, she was named an Agent of Change by the Centre for Social Innovation and as one of Toronto’s “best and brightest under 30” by Post City Magazine.

The model takes root…

“Hidden Harvest Ottawa (HHO) is a new initiative getting off the ground & into the trees in Ottawa! We’re out to find the fruit and nut harvests that are hiding in plain sight around the city. Inspired by Not Far From The Tree’s involvement in Toronto’s community orchard initiative, HHO will be offering services which support the urban orchard across Ottawa.” Katrina Siks, Hidden Harvest Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario)

“Not Far From the Tree is the entire reason The Garden of Eating - Niagara exists. It inspired me to start a similar program in Niagara. We’ve diverted more than 3,500 pounds of residential tree fruit and vegetables from compost heap to local social organizations.”Tiffany Mayer, Garden of Eating – Niagara (Niagara, Ontario)

“Each year we’re donating more than our previous years combined, and we’re even starting a farm solely to grow food for the homeless and hungry this year. We definitely owe it to Not Far From The Tree for showing us it could be done, and done well.”Craig Durkin, Concrete Jungle (Atlanta, Georgia)

pedal power!With support from the Sprott Foundation, Not Far From The Tree purchased a fleet of seven new cargo bikes in 2011. These bikes can hold a heavier harvest, are safer to ride, and will require less repair over the years – plus they’re oh so stylish! This new fleet of bikes helps us stay committed to our mandate of sustainable transportation, ensuring our programs are environmentally-sustainable down to the core.

We also harvested maple syrup from 12 Toronto trees, culminating in our second Syrup in the City boil-down event which attracted over 400 eager urbanites to sample a taste.

Did you know? Over 1/3 of the season’s harvest was shared with 30 social service agencies across the city, such as food banks, shelters, and community kitchens.

2011 marked Not Far From The Tree’s first-ever paw paw harvest! This temperate fruit is a member of a tropical family of trees. Toronto sits on the northernmost tip of its growing region, the Carolinian forest. It’s the largest fruit that is indigenous to Canada and the US.

“After at least a year of procrastinating, I finally signed up to volunteer with Not Far From The Tree. I was initially hoping to get enough berries to make some jam over a couple of picks, but the first pick was so incredible that I had enough to make seven jars of jelly with juice to spare. With that leftover juice I then made about a litre and a half of sorbet!” John Mclean, volunteer picker

When calculated by weight, over half the 2011 harvest was apples. That would make over 2000 pies!

Fruit trees are susceptible to all sorts of disruptions from weather, pests, and disease. In 2011, the urban pear crop was virtually wiped out due to the spread of a fungal disease called pear trellis rust. Despite doubling our scope from 2010 to 2011, our pear harvest went from over 10,000 lbs. to a mere 23!

Not Far From The Tree puts Toronto’s fruit to good use by picking and sharing the bounty. When a fruit tree in the city produces an abundance, we mobilize teams of volunteers to harvest the fruit and share it broadly: 1/3 to the owner of the tree; 1/3 to the volunteers; and 1/3 is delivered by bicycle to food banks and shelters in the neighbourhood.

Not Far From The Tree is a project of Tides Canada Initiatives Society, a registered Canadian charitable organization (BN#13056 0188 RR0001). Full financial statements are available at www.notfarfromthetree.org.

Alia Abaya

Stephen Abma

Leah Bobet

Kristy Chalovich

Val Colden

Sandra Cooke

Carol Cooper

John Deacon

Hugo Delaney

Jacqueline Dolling

Erin Elliott

Esclaves a la Cuisine

Andrew Farncomb

Tara Ferguson

Peter Gillespie

Christina Hane

Celia Harte

Sean Hopen

Yvonne Howard

Christine Hughes

Ms. Edith Kernerman

The Catherine Logan Fund at the Toronto Community

Foundation

Conan MacLean

Debbie McNair

Deborah Mesher

Rose Perconti

Colin Rainsbury

Vincent C. Reinsborough

Carol Roberts

Jode Roberts

Michael Salem

Mildred Sandiland

Geoffrey Singer

Nancy Smith Lea

Janet Strangeways

Anneli West