One of the first steps when we encounter a new group is gathering them together for an orchard design session. Rather than dictate what we think a community should plant and where each tree should go, we listen and respond with our expert advice as required. It’s an opportunity for communities to really take ownership […]
News
Biodiversity at its best: The Dulverton Programme
After the successful completion of a year-long programme on biodiversity, Head of Programmes & Operations Ella Hashemi reflects on its impact and challenges. Judging from my local park, people are accessing and enjoying their local greenspaces more than ever before. Cold, grey November mornings see the park packed full of schoolchildren, joggers, work-from-homers, dog walkers, […]
The joy to be gleaned in an orchard during lockdown
I am writing this at the start of our November COVID-19 lockdown in England. I try to remember what I did last time round, back in that beautiful spring time, when the unexpected closure of schools meant home-schooling my 5-year-old for a number of weeks, alongside balancing work and the uncertainty of the time. Our saviour was the daily walks and bike rides out […]
From Wort-yards to the Wildwoods of Scotland (part 1)
Foraging with Mark Williams – bringing the wild alive in us by taste and discovery. A taste adventure. At this time of year in the orchard we can see the fruits beginning to form on the trees and the fruit bushes – but we have the whole summer to wait until the main harvest. This is […]
Top Tips for Hosting the Perfect Orchard Picnic
With the recent warm weather spring is most definitely well on its way and soon you’ll be bathed in blossom, we love nothing more than gathering our community orchard teams, their local community a few performers and most definitely a face painter for an cracking springtime picnic. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of ‘Hanami’ meaning […]
A woman’s place is in the orchard! – The historical role of women in orcharding
“Orchards? – That’s no job for a lady!”. Really?! One of our Orchard Mentors and CICO graduate, Cath Palgrave, tackles gender discrimination in the fruit-growing realm, by taking at look at the pivotal role women have played in orchards throughout history. One evening, while waiting for the bus, I got chatting to a man at […]
Branching Out: How our Certificate in Community Orcharding catapulted Cath’s career change.
Cath Palgrave is a proud graduate of our Certificate in Community Orcharding, an in-depth, level 3 orchard management course. She shares her path from discovering the joys of orchards to assisting others in establishing community fruit growing projects. Find out why her involvement led her to sign up for our Membership scheme. The first time […]
Our Crafty Fox: What makes Local Fox a Craft Cider?
We’ve all seen the word ‘craft’ on cider and ale labels, but what does it really mean? Here’s our chief Cider Maker, Rosa Fletcher, to unpick the question and explain why our own Local Fox is really quite a unique, ‘craft-y’ character!
London’s Historical Fruitscape: Discovering the rare and ancient Apple Varieties that go into our Cider
What do Bismarck, Lord Derby and Arthur W Barnes have in common? (Answer below the image…) …They are all heritage apple varieties that go into our hand-pressed London juice and cider! One of the many things which makes our Local Fox Cider so unique, is that it’s made entirely of apples and pears grown […]
Spring is finally here and the orchards of Leeds are starting to come to life
We’ve already had a couple of training sessions (formative and restorative pruning) and with grafting coming up (bench and top). Helping Britain Blossom are helping five orchards graft 400 trees this year. That’s involved a lot of collecting graft wood (whilst pruning) and getting some grafting pliers. We’re also going to give the nifty Scionon […]