Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is creating a new fruit orchard using 60 local variety apple, pear and plum trees at the Trust’s Vell Mill nature reserve near Newent.

Over the last 30 years traditional orchards have declined by 67% in the county , and the Trust is calling upon the help of the local community and it’s supporters to take part.

60 different fruit tree varieties will be planted, including the traditional Gloucestershire varieties, Jackets and Waistcoats, Lemon Pippin and Jacob Plum.

Jan Ryder, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s Community Fundraiser said: “Not only do orchards provide mouthwatering fruits for us to relish, but they are an ideal place for lesser spotted woodpecker and mistletoe to thrive, and we are overjoyed to be creating a new orchard for all to enjoy.”

Many of the trees are being dedicated to individual people, 12 will be planted in recognition of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s past Chairmen, and a number will be planted for the local community.

Mrs Jeffries, of Cheltenham, has dedicated a tree for her son, said: “I am pleased to be able to support this orchard as I feel passionately about preserving old local trees and customs. The idea is to make this a living legacy so that when I am no longer here my son will have something to remember me by.”

All the trees will be given special treatment by being blessed using the old custom of balancing cider-soaked toast on the branches, and adding a trickle of local cider to water the roots.

Over 29 new varieties of cider apple have been created following a selection and propagation process that started in 1984. With many being harvested for the first time this year.

Over 365 cidre apples are grown in the UK. - credit NACM

The new apple varieties have in the main been given female names -  Lizzy, Amelia, Amanda, Jenny, Hastings, Connie, Helen's Apple, Jane, Tina, Vicky, Naomi, Nicky, Angela, Gilly, Willy, Joanna, Maggie, Hannah, Jean, Sally, Fiona, Tracey, Eleni, Betty and Debbie.

Royal connections

There is a royal connection with the naming of another as Prince William and three other varieties Three Counties, Shamrock and Early Bird make up the new batch.

The final apple selection was made in 2007 and a first crop is being harvested in 2011 to join the existing 365 varieties already grown in the UK.

It can take up to five years for new orchards to produce apples and it is typically ten years before the grower will breakeven following the investment to plant a new orchard.

Over two million new cider apple trees were planted between 1995 and 2006.

New apple varieties

Many of the new varieties of apple have taken 25 years to breed .

The long-term project is being managed by NACM as part of ongoing research to improve the quality of apples available to cider makers.

Working on the project throughout has been Liz Copas, consultant pomologist to the NACM and a leading authority on cider apples.

One new variety has even been named 'Lizzy' after her.

She said: ''Harvest is an important and exciting time but even more so given the time and effort invested to produce new varieties.

''We hope to prove that the new fruit offers growers and cider makers the best combination of juice quality and high yields whilst requiring limited intervention during the growing season.''

Cider apples differ from culinary and dessert fruit as the cider maker is interested in what flavours are present in the apple juice to be able to produce a range of styles of cider are possible.

The hundreds of varieties of apples each offer different levels of tannin, acidity, astringency and natural sweetness - all the components that combine to produce the flavours and character in cider, just as in wine.

Early harvest

Britain's cider harvest gets underway a month earlier than usual in 2011 due to the warm spring weather, and growers are expecting a bumper crop.

Over 200,000 tonnes of apples will be picked within the next ten weeks.

Nearly half of all apples grown in the UK are used to make cider and many thousands of acres of new orchards have been planted in the last 15 years to keep pace with the increasing demand for the drink.

Gabe Cook, spokesman for the National Association of Cider Makers (NACM), said: " An early harvest is an encouraging sign for the industry.

''The harvest has started earlier but then we saw an early blossom in spring.

''We are expecting a good harvest and we are especially pleased to see new orchards being harvested after the investment in planting"

Around 10 million hectolitres, or 1.76 billion pints, of cider are enjoyed by UK consumers every year according to the NACM.

Over 100 varieties of apples will be on display

Over 100 varieties of apples will be on display at the West Dean College and Gardens Apple Affair in October.

Experts will also be available to help identify any apples that are brought along.

John Nash, former fruit farmer and President of the West Sussex Fruit Group said: " It has been an ideal year for Cox apples because of the cooler temperatures.

"We’ve had a good hard, cold winter with few warm periods. The warm spells we have had in June enabled productive pollination, which is good for cell division of fruit, which makes for great apples."

Apple growers can also seek advice from the 'Apple Doctors' who can help identify disease or problems in plants.

Apples of every shape and size will also be available for visitors to taste.  Many of these have been grown in the Victorian walled kitchen garden on site.

Rosemary Moon, writer, chef and creator of an online cookery website, MoonBites, will also be demonstrating her favourite apple recipes.

West Dean House

As part of the Apple Affair West Dean House will open to the public.

The flint-faced mansion, which only opens once a year, was once home to Edward James and is now a College specialising in all aspects of arts, crafts, conservation and making.

Visitors will be able to see the three state rooms, the Old Dining Room, the Music Room, the vast Oak Reception Hall and the Old Library. All are furnished with art and antiques.

Further information

Admission to the Apple Affair is £8.00 for adults plus concessions.

The event  takes place on the 1st and 2nd October 2011 between 10.30am and 5pm. Last entry for the house is 4.30pm.

Please note, no dogs are allowed in the event or grounds during the Apple Affair, except assistance dogs.

Access to restaurant and shop to event ticket holders only.

West Dean College is situated on the A286, six miles north of Chichester and six miles south of Midhurst.
Address: West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 OQZ   www.westdean.org.uk

The small, sweet Doddin (Daddin) apple is a native of  Worcestershire and thanks to a few dedicated people, is set to make a comeback.

What is the Doddin?

Small, sweet fruits made this a popular "scrumper's" apple

The Doddin (sometimes pronounced Daddin) is an apple tree that is rather diminutive in size but produces heavy yields of equally diminutive but juicy and very sweet apples.

Doddin apples are ready for harvest in July.  Pale green in colour, they are slightly larger than a golf ball and a little elongated.

They are best eaten within a few days of picking and are eaten whole, including the core.  A real hit with children due to it's small size.

A Doddin tree grows freely on its own rootstock and tolerates wet and heavy clay soils.

Doddin Preservation Society

It is thought that the Doddin apple tree is found only in the town of Redditch, Worcestershire, England and the immediate surrounding area. The actual numbers of native Doddin are not known but there are probably less than twenty.

The Doddin Preservation Society, is a not for profit organisation whose aims are to;

• Discover and, where possible, preserve existing specimens and  encourage others to do so.
• Keep The Doddin name in the public domain.
• Reproduce, by vegetative means, The Doddin and endeavour to raise specimen numbers.
• Get The Doddin recognised as a variety and to be accepted by the national collection at Brogdale.

World War II

An unpruned, unfed Doddin shows it's natural shrubby nature

Pip Taylor of The Doddin Preservation Society said;

"I remember my father telling me of The Doddin and of how it was an important crop for the people of Redditch during the War.

The apple's virtues are; cropping early in July, thus extending the apple harvest, very sweet and bite size.

During wartime England, when sweets had disappeared from shop shelves, The Doddin could send a child in raptures of ecstasy with just one bite.

The sweetness is exceptional, combined with the low level of malic acid so, with its deminutive size it lent itself nicely to a sweet substitute. Bought for a penny a bag it was not unusual for locals to take them into cinemas.

Eaten whole, there would be nothing left but the stalk. The only drawback is the high tannin levels which can turn the teeth brown".

Doddin's Fall and Rise

With the expansion of Redditch, which was designated a New Town in the early 1970s, most of The Doddin trees in gardens and allotments disappeared under the new ring roads and housing developments.

Recently, Pip Taylor became concerned that the younger generation and those recent to the town, would not know of The Doddin and may cut down existing trees.

Kevin taking cuttings from a well fed Doddin

Pip's hope was for nothing more than to get the apple's name in the local press but with the help of Kevin O'Neil of Walcot Nursery, Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire, they managed to get a good number of maiden Doddins ready for sale.

Kevin took material from a local Doddin to graft onto various rootstocks for bare root maidens which where ready in November 2010.

Judging from the response, these are popular little trees and would be well suited to the smaller gardens of today or even container planting.

Doddins throw suckers and unlike many commercial apples, they survive quite well on their own rootstock.

It is not known yet, just how long a tree will take to bear fruit but they are slow growing and the picture below, is of a tree which is thought to be the oldest at about 80 years old, showing just how diminutive they are.

We have been told that there are only a few plants remaining from the 2008/2009 cuttings but new stock is quite likely to be grafted this year.

If you are keen to own a Doddin, it is suggested that you contact Walcot Nurseries to reserve your plant.  The Doddin is probably the earliest fruiting apple known and as such is not likely to tolerate climates which suffer late frosts.

Doddins on the map

Apple scrumping memories from an 80 year old tree

The Doddin Preservation Society are trying to place all known Doddin trees on the map and would love to hear from anybody who thinks they may have one.

We at Oldvaieties.com would be interested to know how many Doddins still survive and if you know of any stories or folklore surrounding this fruit.

Is this the oldest Doddin tree?

How was the fruit used?

Do you have an old Doddin recipe?

Contact us using the comments section at the end of this article.

More information

Doddin Preservation Society

Walcot Organic Nursery - A selection of traditional and modern fruit tree varieties.

BBC - Rare apple planted in local orchard.

Elmwood College, in partnership with The Forestry Commission have recently unveiled plans for a new orchard.

Elmwood college, Fife

Elmwood and The Forestry Commission identified the need for a "Model Orchard" to provide education and training in Orchard planting and management techniques. The Forestry Commison provided the initial set up costs and Elmwood hope to secure further funding from Scottish Executive Agriculture Department in due course.

The Orchard area is located on The Elmwood College Farm and has a total area of 0.73 hectares. It is fully organic and Soil Association certified and will be developed over three years. The first planting is complete and comprises 50 trees split between cider apples and desert apples. In addition a blackthorn/sloe hedge will surround the orchard, which was chosen for its biodiversity as well as the bumper crop of ‘Sloe's,’ which are expected to appear in a few years time. The perimeter of the Orchard is protected with a Deer/Rabbit proof fence.

Wayne Roberts, Section Leader for Greenkeeping & Horticulture, said, “The development of the orchard as a teaching resource for use by college students and the wider community is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that we can help to identify and preserve heritage varieties and develop new rootstocks for the future. As Scotland’s Centre for Production Horticulture, we can ensure that skills and knowledge associated with both fruit production and management help to support the national economy and assist to develop employability in the sector. The support and encouragement that we have received from partners and the industry have helped to identify that there is a strong need for this area of horticulture and we will ensure that we support industry as best we can.”

In the area not planted this year, Agriculture students at the College are about to sow a clover rich cover crop to increase the fertility of that portion for future year planting. The first fruit is expected in the Autumn of 2012, with major harvest from the Autumn of 2013. All trees have been chosen to be ripening into the College’s Autumn term to ensure the students are involved in the harvest.

More information

Elmwood College website

Forestry Commission - Scotland

Karen from Shropshire contacted us requesting details of traditional apple varieties for the region.

Apple

Her school is taking part in the Learning Through Landscapes "Fruit-full Schools" project.

They are planning to establish a community orchard in the school grounds and would like to be able to grow old local varieties.

If anybody can help with information about varieties of apples that have traditionally been grown in shropshire, then please contact us via the comments section at the end of this post and we will forward the details.

More information

Learning from Landscapes believe passionately that children and young people who miss out on good school grounds miss out on the best start in life.

School grounds play a vital role in every child's learning and development. They are unique spaces, providing safe and diverse opportunities for understanding, achievement, healthy exercise and play.

Learning From Landscapes will help you;

* Identify how to make physical changes to your grounds, and find people who can help
* Deliver the curriculum in a stimulating and meaningful way
* Increase learning and play opportunities
* Improve the environment for children and staff, making a better, happier place to be and developing a positive, caring ethos.
* Provide a range of formal and informal opportunities for physical activity, improving health, well-being and motivation to learn.
* Create opportunities for genuine participation for all to be involved in this process.

We have had a request from a gentleman looking for pictures of and maybe ultimately suppliers of two varieties of apple from Berkshire:

"Guelph" a dessert apple from Newbury

"Frogmore prolific", a cooking apple from Windsor.

Does anybody know if these varieties are still in cultivation?

The Duke of Devonshire apple was raised in 1835 by Wilson, gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Holker Hall, Cumbria.

Duke of Devonshire apple

Introduced around 1875, the fruits have a firm, fine texture with rather dry flesh and a slightly nutty flavour.

Uses: Desert
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Early to Mid May
Picking: Early October
Natural Storage: January - March

The Duke of Devonshire apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.

Young trees are available from Adam's Apples, in Devon.

Originating from Yorkshire, the Cockpit apple was first discovered in 1831.

Cockpit apple

Fruits have coarse flesh with a slight acid and almost astringent flavour.

A famous Yorkshire apple which grows well in Cumbria.

Uses: Culinary
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Early to Mid May
Picking: Early October
Natural Storage: October - December

The Cockpit apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.

The Golden Spire apple was reported to have been discovered in 1850 by Richard Smith of Worcester.

Golden Spire apple

Fruits have a dense, crisp flesh with an acidic, astringent flavour.

Uses: Culinary
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Late April to Early May
Picking: Early September
Natural Storage: September - October

The Golden Spire apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.