Days Cottage Apple Day
by | posted in: apple day, apples, cider apples, GOT Events, identification, Juice, orchard, orchard history, pomona, rootstock, varieties, workshop | 0

Some notes from the events at Days Cottage on National Apple Day, Sunday 21st October 2018.  Apple Day, originally launched by Common Ground in 1990, has become an essential part of the orchard calendar.

Helen Brent-Smith and her papermache apples

At Days Cottage scores of visitors came along to see the Orchard and Rural Skills Centre, just south of Gloucester, to enjoy the sunshine in wonderful old and young traditional unsprayed orchards.

 

People could have fruit identified, order and buy heritage fruit trees, juice apples, appreciate the wildlife, listen to musicians, try spoon carving, and taste and buy juice, cider and perry and rare apple varieties.

 

Apple Pear Portraits

There were activities for children too, including making the longest peel and sitting for a most unusual portrait! Folk could relax in the cosy yurt or roundhouse and imbibe mulled apple juice or eat from a range of delicious apple and pear cakes.

 

GOT was on hand to sell orchard books, including Charles Martell’s apple, pear and plum pomonas (also available to buy from the GOT online shop).

For more information on Days Cottage visit their website at www.dayscottage.co.uk

Photos by Paul Bloomer and Ann Smith.

Apple Days 2017 #3: Some seasonal pictures from Longney
by | posted in: apple day, apples, cider apples, orchard, varieties | 0

Some pictures (and words) from Martin Hayes, documenting some of the recent work at our Longney Orchards.

We (particularly Martin) have been hard at work here this season – if you came to the orchards over the summer do come again soon and see what we have been up to in the interim.

Educational days have become much easier with our own orchards . With help from NE , TCTOP and Trust Juice we have had some great days.

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Fruit identification – what variety is that?
by | posted in: apples, cider apples, orchard, pears, perry pears, varieties | 0

It’s that time of year again – when people start collecting, harvesting or simply noticing, fruit and quite often want to know variety of apple, pear etc they are picking or eating or looking at.

Is it unusual, rare, common? What is the best use of it – cider, perry, dessert, or cooking? And, if you have a lot, what are the keeping qualities?

There are many resources that can help – both within and outside GOT – and a few are listed below.

Firstly it’s worth noting that we are due to develop our ‘Varieties’ website at glosorchards.org/home/fruitvarieties soon – but unfortunately not in time for harvest this year.  However there are some archived resources from our old website available via that site – for a full index of those click here.

Secondly there are people who can help direct including:

  • Perry pears – contact Jim Chapman jjrchapman@btinternet.com (small charge)
  • Apples – the Marcher Apple Network www.marcherapple.net are experts – (proforma needed or visit at the shows they
    attend, including Malvern Autumn Show, Big Apple Harvest Time Weekend etc). (small charge)
  • Brogdale Horticultural Trust (by post, charge) http://www.brogdalecollections.org/
  • Apple Afternoon at Days Cottage – 8th October (details here) or bring small amounts to Stroud Farmers Markets
    on Saturdays to their stall

Or, thirdly, you could try DIY id online at Fruitid.com a national fruit self-identifying website with high quality photographs, more added continually and aiming to eventually have all tree fruits.

And, last but by no means least, you can look up local fruit varieties in GOT’s own publications, including

  • Pears of Gloucestershire and Perry Pears of the Three Counties, by Charles Martell (2013) and
  • Native Apples of Gloucestershire by Charles Martell (2014)

Both are available on our bookshop page here.

 

 

 

Welcome to our News pages
by | posted in: AGM, apple day, apples, audio, bees, biodiversity, blossom, cider apples, conference, Dawn Chorus, Days Cottage, disability, dna, exhibition, GOT Events, grafting, Hartpury, harvest, Henley, identification, Juice, Longney, orchard, orchard history, pears, perry pears, plums, pomona, pruning, rockness, rootstock, schools, stone fruit, varieties, video, volunteers, wassail, wildlife, workshop | 0

Hi, this page lists all our news posts, including events past and future. To see just the upcoming events click here.  You can search for particular news categories by clicking on the category listings above this text.

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