Our Morning of Gleaning


Our Saturday morning gleaning group.
Our Saturday morning gleaning group.

My morning started early at around 5:30. Laundry had been started the night before and my wife deserved a reprise from chores she far too often assumes. The kitchen was another task would be removed from her Saturday list. It was nice to actually embrace what my father calls “the best part of the day” as the silence of halls and rooms was broken only by the pleasant sounds of dog tails moving quickly through the air.

The excitement which pulled me from my sleep was directly tied to my first gleaning event with the Society of St Andrews. For those not familiar with the organization, here is what their “about us” states on their website. Their history is grounded in the United Methodist Church.

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Gleaning: Saturday the 10th of December


I received this email from Sandi Newman, area coordinator for Society of St. Andrews:

The Gleaning on Saturday is at Grove House, 2940 Claire Lane. This is a private home for developmentally challenged individuals and looks like a residential home. There is a circular drive in front of the house but we cannot park there. The best place to park is along the road across the street from the home, on Clairboro Rd. E. then walk across Claire Lane to the home. There is a path that leads along the left side of the house to the backyard and the grove of trees. Your son’s friends would be welcome to come. Citrus sometimes has spines on the branches so I recommend wearing garden gloves for protection. If you have any hand clippers or limb loppers, long-handled pruning tools, it would be helpful to bring them.
If you can bring boxes, preferably banana boxes or other strong structural boxes, that would also be helpful. Otherwise we pack in plastic grocery bags. I would also suggest bringing bottled water.
We will meet at 8:30 and usually work about 4 hours but you can leave any time you need to.

The weather in NE Florida will be crisp, perfect for a morning in the grove. So far I have no takers but the seeds have been planted (no pun intended) for future endeavors.

Gleaning: Update


I received this message from Sandi Newman, gleaning coordinator of North East Florida. If you follow this blog you know I reached out to her via her website Society of St. Andrews a few months ago to assist in gleaning the farms/orchards of Florida. She contacted me earlier this week to note the following:

Greetings Gleaners!
We have citrus to harvest this Saturday morning in Mandarin. We’ll meet around 8:30 to pick and distribute to agencies across Jacksonville. We’ve gleaned this grove before and they have delicious fruit that is much appreciated by the shelters, pantries and other agencies we serve and those individuals that they feed.
Respond to this e-mail and I will send the address and directions to the gleaning site.
Thanks for your faithful support of the Gleaning Network!

I am awaiting her confirmation of location and directions on how to get there. If you can join me let’s meet up for an early morning cup of coffee.

For some additional information on Sandi and the organization see this article from http://www.StAugustine.com.