We love heritage orchards, whether it’s planting, pruning, building tree guards, or harvesting the apples for juice or artisan cider. We are happy to do the work or teach you how to do it so you have the skills to look after your own orchard. (please see our cider making blog)
If you’d like some help with a handful of fruit trees in your garden, or something bigger like the creation of a community orchard, we are your people. We have experience of identifying local heritage species and can graft them onto good rootstock. Some of the older varieties are absolutely delicious compared to the commercially produced fruit, and you’ll be doing your bit for the conservation of a heritage plant.
So many orchards have been lost and it’s great that people are beginning to value them again. They have so much to offer as; a landscape feature, a great natural habitat and a producer of food and drink, not least perry and cider!! A fine example of permaculture that’s great for soil conservation and effectively two crops if you graze beneath your trees.
Orchards can be brilliant at bringing people together too. You might simply share your excess fruit with your neighbours or host a cider pressing day. We can help with that too. We have apple scratters, a press and far too much experience making tasty cider for our own good. And if you really want to go to town with the social side of things, organize a community wassail night. Wassail is a fabulous pagan celebration involving burning torches, fire, singing and dancing as well as drinking. What’s not to like? Having organized a few Wassail nights we’d be happy to help with that too.