New Longney plantings
by | posted in: apples, grafting, Longney, rootstock, varieties | 0

News sent in by Stuart Smith:

Newly planted in the apple collection at Longney are two Upright French, propagated for us by John Teiser from Bulmer’s Adam’s Hill Orchard. These are grafted onto crab stock, whereas most of the apples are M25.

Another difference which you can see in one of the photos is that the guards are scaled down from the original design – the posts are about 1.35m, the sides about 84cm.

The trees are planted in ground that has not had trees before so there is no risk of replant disease, but because space is limited it might be necessary to plant a replacement in the same position.

John told me that there are rootstocks that have been shown to overcome the inhibitory effect – such as the Geneva® (G) range.

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GOT in the news #3: Martin and Tim on Youtube
by | posted in: apples, Longney, orchard, orchard history, pears, perry pears, plums, TV, varieties, video, volunteers | 0

Gloucestershire’s Country Matters – interview with expert orchardist Martin Hayes, on CPRE Gloucestershire’s Youtube channel:

This is a video filmed in GOT’s orchards at Longney:  This is the summary from the CPRE page:

An interview with Tim Andrews, County Director of CPRE Gloucestershire, and Martin Hayes. Martin is an expert orchardist and key member of the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust. The interview explores why orchards are special to Martin and Gloucestershire, and the work Martin does to reverse their decline. Around 75% of orchards have been lost in Gloucestershire in the last 50 years.

The interview was filmed in Longney, near Gloucester at an orchard owned by the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust. CPRE Gloucestershire is presently helping to restore around 10 acres of orchard at near Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.

Tim Andrews directed, filmed and edited the video – it was his first try at doing this.  And it is rather good, though Tim says ‘improvements are planned for next time’.

 

Longney Orchard News
by | posted in: apples, biodiversity, Longney, orchard, volunteers, wildlife | 0
This picture, taken by Ann, shows Stuart Smith after the planting work

Ann Smith writes:

Today we planted more Gloucestershire plum trees at GOT’s Longney Orchard and replaced one or two apple trees. The soil is good quality and drains well.

Sheep continue to graze the orchards. The flocks of fieldfares and redwings were enjoying the fallen apples.

A tattered red admiral butterfly warmed itself on the barn brickwork in full sun on this mild November day. It was rather tattered, weary from a long year chased by birds or perhaps it was tipsy from the fermented fruit! Will it survive the winter? They are known to enter a dormant state and the barn would certainly provide shelter.

The red admiral picture (right) and the fieldfare pictures below were taken by John Fletcher, who is a regular birdwatcher at Longney.

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BBC feature on local orchards
by | posted in: apple day, apples, cider apples, community, harvest, identification, orchard, pears, planting, varieties, volunteers, wassail | 0

The BBC news website featured traditional orchards last week, timed to coincide with Apple Day.

It highlighted the work being carried out to conserve orchards, and traditional varieties, locally and regionally in Somerset and Gloucestershire  The article also highlighted the work of PTES and the Orchard Network nationally.

For Gloucestershire both GOT and the Wildlife Trust were mentioned, discussing local sites and the work being done to find and conserve local varieties.

For the full article click here:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-63298873

Pictures from Days Cottage Apple Day
by | posted in: apple day, apples, cider, cider apples, community, Days Cottage, Events, harvest, orchard, varieties | 0

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The perry pear painting on the bench is by Chris Bingle, whose work can be seen at subtlecolours.com

Apple Days are here
by | posted in: apple day, apples, cider, cider apples, community, harvest, orchard, Past Events | 0

Have you been to an Apple Day this season yet?  Many of our local events have happened already (click on our Past events tab to see these), but some are still to come.

National Apple Day was launched in 1990 by Common Ground. Their aspiration was to create a calendar custom, an autumn holiday. From the start, Apple Day was intended to be both a celebration and a demonstration of the variety we are in danger of losing, not simply in apples, but in the richness and diversity of landscape, ecology and culture too. It has also played a part in raising awareness in the provenance and traceability of food.

The concept was initially set as 21st October but, in practice, the date is variable depending on which area you’re in and what orchard group is doing what.

It has become incredibly successful over the 30 years since – with events taking place all over the country organised by local orchard and apple groups, across a range of dates throughout October.

For information on Apple Day events around the country visit https://ptes.org/campaigns/traditional-orchard-project/orchard-network/apple-day/

https://www.commonground.org.uk/apple-day/

Grafting Workshop, Winterbourne Barn, 18th February 2023
by | posted in: apples, course, Events, grafting, Past Events, rootstock, varieties, workshop | 0

Winterbourne Barn’s annual grafting workshop will take place on Saturday 18th February 2023 from 10am to 4pm.

Come and learn how to graft apple trees on this course under the tuition of Ben Raskin, a previous commercial fruit grower and an enthusiastic, effective and very knowledgeable teacher, now Head of Horticulture at The Soil Association.

Visit www.winterbournebarn.org.uk/events and scroll through until you come to Apple Grafting for details.

Or, to see booking information, go to https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/winterbourne-medieval-barn-trust/t-avvoeav

Celebrate Apple Day at Horfield Organic Community Orchard – Sunday 16 Oct, 2-4pm
by | posted in: apple day, apples, community, Events, harvest, orchard, Past Events, planting, varieties | 0

All are welcome to celebrate Apple Day with Horfield Organic Community Orchard
Sunday 16 October, 2 – 4pm

Details at http://www.community-orchard.org.uk/public-events or click here for flyer/poster 

Turning Bristol into an orchard city since 1998

  • Fruit trees for sale*
  • Tasting table – sample local and less common varieties
  • Fresh-pressed juice and home made cake for sale
  • Local produce for sale
  • Pests and problems? Ask the experts!
  • Join the orchard as a Friend and support our work

To find the orchard (nearest postcode BS7 8JP)
Walk down the lane beside 22 Kings Drive (between Bishop Rd & Kellaway Ave), turn left and enter the first gate on the right.
OR
Take the lane beside 134 Longmead Ave until you come to the third gate on the left.
Dogs on leads, please.

Contact: hocohello@gmail.com
phone: 0117 373 1587
http://www.community-orchard.org.uk/public-events

*Pre-ordering recommended to avoid disappointment.
See the HOCO website for more information:
http://www.community-orchard.org.uk

Preparing for Apple Day at Days Cottage
by | posted in: apple day, apples, cider apples, Days Cottage, Events, harvest, identification, Past Events, varieties | 0

Helen and Dave at Days Cottage have been busy setting up the displays for their Apple Day next Sunday (16th October, 1-4pm).  Helen has sent these pictures and notes:

This is part of the Gloucestershire collection – there will 90 varieties altogether of which 45 are Gloucestershire ones from the Days Cottage Museum Orchard.

Here are a few of the Gloucestershire varieties, starting with the delightfully named Hen’s Turds, followed by Gloucester Royal and then Ben Lans. Such beautiful fruit this year:

the next picture shows the genetic instability of Siddington Russet…you can see 2 heavily russeted apples and 2 smooth green ones all on the same branch!

And lastly Cambridge Queening…a gorgeous apple from Cambridge, the village south of Gloucester on the A38. It is the best variety for making Tarte Tatin. Helen writes that they had a chef at one of their Apple Days who made lots of Tarte Tatins with different varieties and Cambridge Queening won the taste test hands down! Also known as Cambridge Quoining…thought to be from the angled shape reflecting quoin stones used on the corners of buildings.

Shaking the Severn Bank
by | posted in: apples, cider, cider apples, Days Cottage, harvest, orchard, varieties | 0

Helen from Days Cottage getting a full work out while shaking a Severn Bank apple tree in the Museum Orchard at Day’s Cottage.

She writes that ‘we’ve used the fruit to make a first experimental barrel of 100% Severn Bank as the crop has been so heavy this season. Will let you know how it turns out next year.’

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