5 minute read
APPLE DAYS
THE SEASON OF ‘MISTS AND MELLOW FRUITFULNESS’
Autumn means apple days; Peter Lloyd Bennet and Adam Cade from Stamford Community Orchard Group talk apples
STAMFORD COMMUNITY ORCHARD Group (SCOG) members are passionate about maintaining the tradition which reaches back to Roman times - and possibly beyond - of nurturing fruit trees and growing apples for the enefit of ommunities and onne ting ith nature
We are currently promoting the establishment of orchards in Corby, Stamford and Ketton along with a number of organisations including North Northamptonshire Council, Burghley Estate, Balfour Beattie Homes and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Members of our committee are also researching and trying to propagate some of the local varieties as well as providing training and advice to other groups about setting up and managing orchards.
Stamford community orchard has had another very produ ti e year e ha e a ne sign sho ing the di erent varieties of apple trees and some varieties have produced prolifi rops e are grateful to e eryone ho has ta en active roles in maintaining and caring for the community orchard. In June our committee shared a very enjoyable social evening there.
Stamford apple day which will be held on October 1 is one of the most important events of the year supported by the East of England Apples and Orchards Project which attracts about a thousand visitors to Stamford Arts Centre. We are linking with the Welland Valley Art Society and Art Pop-up this year to co-ordinate exhibitions on apple day. o al usinesses ontri ute ith a ariety of di erent stalls. Apple day is an opportunity for people to bring along apples from their garden or allotment for identifi ation of spe ifi arieties y experts s ell as apple identifi ation there is the popular tombola stall, games for children and stalls selling apple related gifts and produce.
As well as our autumn apple day we complete the fruiting season in our community orchard next year with our winter wassail (January 7), springtime orchard blossom day (April 30), and summertime orchard picnic (June 21).
The Stamford orchard wassail is another popular annual event in our diary which takes place as close to the twelfth night as possible. This ancient ceremony is to ‘bless’ the trees to produce a good crop. The orchard is decorated with lots of lanterns and toast is hung in the branches of the apple trees and there is a lit brazier. It starts with dances by Rutland Morris followed by the traditional noisy procession of banging pots and pans to accompany the wassail king and queen. There’s singing from Stamford Woven Chords choir, story-telling by Mark Fraser and more dancing from utland orris e finish ith a final rendition of the Wassail song.
The orchard blossom day allows people to experience, enjoy and learn about and celebrate traditional and community orchards, fruit trees and their varied blossom. The aim is to widen the appeal of traditional orchards and their rich biodiversity, to reach new people online as well as through local and national media, as part of a Europeanwide campaign. Everyone is welcome to enjoy live music from a folk band and a storyteller provides everyone with further entertainment.
We welcome the involvement of children from local schools such as St Augustine’s who recently joined us in the orchard for a series of community events. The children explored the or hard dis o ered la erries a first for them all sadly), yellow rattle, shield beetles, grasshoppers, rotten fruit, etc and also did some amazing collaborative art work. As part of our education programme we plan to show children the apple press and then they sample some of the apples from the orchard. The orchard has also been used by our local scout group and for a family art project day with some of the lo al hildren oming to the or hard for the first time and enjoying a picnic amongst the apple trees. The Welland Art Society also came to paint and draw in the orchard.
Over the last few years we have trained over 200 people to graft new fruit trees by splicing scion wood of a known variety to a rootstock, as well as to prune trees for maximum production. On February 25 we will be running another grafting and pruning workshop at the Rutland Agricultural Showground. Locally we have produced a bumper plum, apple and pear harvest this year. We are also able to lend some processing and pressing equipment to community groups and schools. f you ant to find out more a out our onderful heritage of tree fruit and traditional orchards do contact us to volunteer in the orchards, process fruit or join some of our workshops or events, we would love to see you.
Apple pressing traditionally takes place after the apples have been harvested in the autumn. Waterloo Cottage community garden tells us how it all works
THE APPLE HARVEST usually starts in September and continues for a couple of months. And with the harvest comes apple pressing which was the traditional way to make apple juice. And similar methods are still used today. Our local community orchards hold apple pressing days where people can come and join in and help and go home with their own freshly pressed juice.
Apple pressing has taken place at Waterloo Cottage community garden in Great Oxendon for several years now. The community garden has a share in Market Harborough Apple Press which is looked after by the Grafters and Growers Group on behalf of the shareholders.
Apple pressing is a fun activity suitable for everyone. There are four main stages to using the press and producing apple juice:
First the apples are roughly cut. Then the chopped apples are put in the scratter to be reduced to pulp. The pulped apples are put into the juicer. And then the juice is collected and, hey presto, you have apple juice!
This year the Apple Pressing event will take place at Waterloo Cottage Farm Shop on Friday October 7 from 12 to 7pm and Saturday October 8 from 10am to 4pm.
Everyone is welcome, with or without apples but do bring some if you have your own trees. Bring along empty containers to take away some juice for which there is a small charge - £2.00 with apples, £3.00 without.
