A Toast to our Trees!

As winter rolls around and our fruit trees fall dormant once again, we are reminded of our orchard heritage. For centuries, especially in the South-West of England, communities would gather in their orchard for the Wassail. This ceremony promotes the health of the trees and encourages a bountiful harvest!

In order to scare away evil spirits and to invigorate the trees, those celebrating the Wassail would sing, play music, bang pots and pans, and generally make as much noise as possible! As with many traditions, food and drink also form a significant part of the festivities – a wassail bowl would be shared about, and the liquid flung at the trees. Wassail is essentially a hot, mulled cider – perfect for those long winter evenings!

Join us in celebrating our orchards at your local wassail, and perhaps even make some of your own! Our Local Fox cider is the perfect base for your very own wassail bowl! The recipe is very simple, and could even be made with our London Apple Juice, for those looking for a drink that packs less of a punch (pun intended!)

3 litres Local Fox bag in box cider
Add in 1 and a half chopped oranges – squeeze in the juice
Approx 1.5 cups of sugar (to taste)

25 cloves

1 teaspoon of ginger

6 pinches of nutmeg

2 teaspoons of cinnamon or 3 cinnamon sticks (depending what you have)

10-15 juniper berries

Heat gently without boiling

Apple tree, apple tree, we all come to wassail thee,

Bear this year and next year to bloom and to blow,

Hat fulls, cap fulls, three cornered sack fills,

Hip, Hip, Hip, hurrah,

Holler biys, holler hurrah!

 ⁃ Traditional Wassail Incantation

Merry Christmas all from all, with apple love from The Orchard Project.