At first glance it looks like any other community orchard setting – people are focused on a pruning task and are chatting under the summer sun – but it’s actually very different. This is Thorn Cross’ 160 fruit tree orchard, set in the extensive grounds of the open prison in Cheshire. I recently joined our […]
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The season of medlar fruitfulness: bletting and harvesting
This blog was written by Jane Steward, who kindly shared her knowledge and recipes with us. Jane is the Plant Heritage National Collection Holder of medlars, Mespilus germanica, in Eastgate, Norfolk. She launched Eastgate Larder, the UK’s only medlar-focused enterprise, in 2016. Her harvest is destined for medlar jelly and spicy medlar chutney, and her […]
A wee Scottish orchard odyssey
My job involves co-ordinating aftercare for our newly planted orchards. I recently went to Scotland to attend our Orchard Gathering in Glasgow and used it as an opportunity to visit as many of the orchards as possible – a plum job! This is a round-up of my trip. Linkes Food Forest, Glasgow First up was […]
Juicing with schools
It’s the time of the year when our fruit trees look bountiful and we are looking forward to harvesting the fruit from our orchards, as a reward for our hard work over the last year. Apples, especially, always seem to be abundant. After the fruit bowls have been filled and the pies and crumbles baked, […]
Meet the solitary bees
One of the joys of spending time outdoors in the warmer weather is spotting the insects also making the most of the sunshine, buzzing between the flowers, stocking up on nectar and pollen. If you look closely, you may find that many of these flying insects are solitary bees. What is a solitary bee? Well, […]
Community orchards – tragedy or victory of the commons?
Community orchards are a growing movement, with hundreds of new fruit trees being planted each year. In another decade, as the trees reach maturity, we will start to see a significant harvest and they will become a really important resource. We believe community orchards can be a small, but vital, piece of the puzzle in […]
Creating nourishing ecosystems for all
As we’ve covered in our blog on racial justice and orchards and in other blogs, one thing that’s really important to The Orchard Project is that our work is inclusive and better reflects the incredibly complex range of communities we serve. We don’t want to just be talking the talk, so we’ve been proactive at […]
Bird spotting in a Spring orchard
Orchards, particularly traditional ones, are invaluable refuges for many bird species, whether in the heart of a city or a rural village. They provide a tasty range of arthropods (such as beetles and spiders) and insects for familiar birds such as Robins, Wrens and Dunnocks. Often relatively sheltered, orchards have the added attraction of hedges […]
The Gower Wassail
Recently on Gower there was a loud hullabaloo coming from down in the valley! You might have been forgiven for thinking that a riot was happening with all the shouting and pot-banging! Going closer into the pushing, shoving, yelling crowd – if you dared – you might have spotted a small herd of decorated horse […]
Six reasons to plant fruit trees
It’s tree planting season, and that means lots of people are donning their boots and braving the weather to plant whips and saplings. Increasing the UK’s tree coverage is vital for carbon capture, cleaner air and shade coverage as the climate warms. But have you considered fruit trees for your tree-planting mission? There are many […]