BBC Radio Somerset Wednesday 28 April

Do listen in to BBC Radio Somerset on the morning of Wednesday 28 April.  Our friend Rachel Brewer, the pommelier at the National Trust's Barrington Court property, will be speaking at 7.15, and then at 8.15 our very own Neil Macdonald will be talking about our orchards and Apple Blossom Day.

Don't miss it!

Get well soon, Chris

We've just heard that Chris at Pennard Plants is unwell and they won't be able to attend Apple Blossom Day.  We wish you a speedy recovery Chris.

The Orchard Pig wins at the Taste of Somerset Awards

NEWSFLASH!


Last night, at the Taste of Somerset awards, held at The Mill on the Brue in Bruton, The Orchard Pig trotted off with the award for the Best Somerset Drinks Producer! We were in stiff competition with some of the county's best producers so we are doubly pleased. The awards nominations all come from readers of the Blackmore Vale publications so we offer a huge thank you to all the people who said they liked our drinks enough for us to win.

Mendip Moments ice cream

Perhaps Sunday 2 May will be a really hot and sunny day, in which case ice cream will definitely be on the menu at Apple Blossom Day!


Mendip Moments use their own milk and cream from their pedigree dairy herd of Holstein cows to make their indulgent ice cream.


Their delicious flavours include 
Vanilla Bean
Peppermint with Dark Chocolate
Clotted Cream and Honeycomb
Mascarpone, Fig and Honey
Stem Ginger
Somerset Strawberries and Clotted Cream
Somerset Raspberries and Greek Yogurt
and
Lemon Curd


Which one will you go for?


Find out more at http://www.mendipmoments.co.uk/index.php

Pennard Plants

Our near neighbours Pennard Plants are coming to Apple Blossom Day for the first time this year.  We are very excited that we have been able to persuade them to take part.  Pennard Plants is in a beautiful walled garden at East Pennard, Somerset.  They specialise in fantastic agapanthus plants, a gorgeous native of South Africa that is aclimatising happily here as it gets a bit warmer.


I have a big pot with the evergreen variety Bluety which I think has come through the winter unscathed. Can't wait to see the wonderful flower spikes with their bright blue heads.


For more see http://www.pennardplants.com/


Pennard Plants also has a terrific collection of heritage seeds, lots of old varieties that are not available anywhere else.

Fergus the Tractor

The Orchard Pig is delighted to welcome author Steve Burnside to Apple Blossom Day.  Steve has written ten delightful children's books about Fergus the tractor, Farmer Pete and all their friends.  He will be at West Bradley Orchards, with his tractor, to answer questions from all his many fans!


Find out more at www.fergusandfriends.com

Pears in bud

The pear trees are the first in the orchard to show their blossom.  As the weather warms up we can see the buds just starting to burst, to be followed by the white blossom of the pear tree.  Here at West Bradley we grow four different kinds of pear - Conference, Comice, Concorde and Beth.  We expect warm sunshine over the next few days and in no time at all the whole orchard will start to twinkle with little starbursts of blossom.

Apple Blossom Day - participants

We have just got confirmation of the producers who will be coming to our Apple Blossom Day event on Sunday May 2, and we are starting to get organised for the day.

Famous orchard people Liz Copas and Bob Chaplin will be with us to guide the orchard tours.  We will have tractor rides for everybody (Dads always want to go round twice!), a cider and apple juice bar,  pig roast for the hungry, followed by cream teas for the greedy, and a Treasure Trail for all the family.

Pennard Plants will be there with seeds and plants, and Ashridge Trees with trees.  Ice creams from Mendip Moments, bees and honey from Stuart Holden of Somerset Bee Keepers, and a plant stall and a cake stall from West Bradley Church.

More to be confirmed as we get details.

It's starting to shape up quite nicely!

Apple tree planting time

The UK is sitting under an area of high pressure and we have seen a lot of something rather unusual, namely the SUN!


These cold still days with cloudless blue skies are a welcome change after the last few soggy months and the ground has at last had a chance to dry out.  There's no point in planting trees into wet ground because the sides of the hole set like concrete and the poor little tree's roots have no chance.


We are planting lots of an apple called Falstaff and some more of another variety called Red Windsor.  The maiden trees have been sitting with their roots damp but wrapped in straw since we got them way back in January and they can't wait to get into the ground. 

The earth is really friable and crumbly and in great condition to receive the young trees and give them the best start in life. 

If the weather holds we should have them all in in the next few days.

Somerset Life

We are featured in this month's issue of Somerset Life!

Four pages with some beautiful photographs and an interview with Neil about pruning.

Just for Technorati

THAERMX5FZ35

Snowdrops and snowstorms

The snowdrops along the banks of the stream are bravely nodding their heads, a signal that spring is round the corner.

In the last week we've had all sorts of weather thrown at us - snow, sleet, rain and brilliant sunshine.  We're just hoping that the good weather lasts and we have fewer downpours, because we have several thousand trees to plant.

The trees will go in as maidens, (just a big twig really) or feather maidens (a big twig with some feathery branchlets) and what is most important is that the soil conditions are right.  If the ground is too wet the sides of the hole get smeared as it is dug, then the soil sets like concrete around the hole and the little tree's roots can't get through it.

Far better to wait until the soil conditions are right for planting, which may be any time in March, or even into April if the weather gets bad.

Be brave!

We prune the apple trees to take out dead wood, to let more light into the branches and to encourage the tree to put its strength into making a shapely tree and robust fruiting branches. 

You can remove up to 25% of the fruiting wood, the wood that bears buds, in any one year.  Leave it lying on the ground and you will see that it's quite a lot.  And dead wood doesn't count as part of your 25%, so you can take that out for free.

Take the branch right back to the trunk; you will see a wrinkle where the branch joins the trunk and you make the cut as close to that as possible on the branch side.  The tree will naturally scar over to seal the cut.

What you end up with is a tree with a root system that is working hard to put the energy into the places that you need it, the places where your best fruit will form.

Be brave!  Don't use secateurs except on very young trees.  Get in there with a saw and make the least cuts for the maximum effect.  

And when you have taken out your 25% walk away...no going back and fiddling!

Mistletoe...

is not our favourite thing in the orchard!

The seeds of this pretty but parasitic plant are spread by birds and it quickly saps all the strength from apple trees.  In order to remove it you have to completely remove the branch, right back to the trunk.  If you look at your tree and think "if I remove all the mistletoe I will have no tree left" then you've got yourself a mistletoe tree, not an apple tree.

Mind you, they make good wildlife habitats for some special moths and insects, but you can say good bye to the apples, so it's important to keep it under control.

Pruning

Any time between November and April is good for pruning the trees, but January/February are the best months. Best for the trees maybe, but pretty unwelcoming for the pruners!

We have been working with The National Trust on their Orchard Project, showing their wardens in the South West how to restore old trees and neglected orchards.

Neil Macdonald manages all our orchards, and another 800 acres in the area. He is passionate about the trees, and about the biodiversity they promote. Did you know that an orchard has TEN times the diversity of a plain green field?

A foggy day in the orchard

It's the beginning of February and May time seems a long way off! Today in the orchards the trees were wreathed in fog all day, but if you look at the branches you can see the buds where first the blossom and then the fruit will form. Already it looks like it will be a good year. We are all coming out of hibernation and beginning to make plans for our big celebration on Sunday 2 May - the very start of summer.