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 National Trust will launch their new Garden Collection at Chelsea 2011 and the stand will feature old varieties, including the ancient medlar.

National Trust Stand under construction at Chelsea 2011

The collection – which includes products from Alitex Greenhouses, Crane Sheds, Gaze Burvill outdoor furniture, Oak Leaf Gates, Scotts of Thrapston Summerhouses and Westminster Stone - will be launched at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.

The exhibition stand, which will also feature National Trust plants, has been designed by Louise Harries, graduate of the London College of Garden Design, who won a competition to design and build the stand.

Wherever possible plants for the stand will be grown and supplied by the nurseries at the National Trust properties Lanhydrock and Killerton.

Heritage Varieties

Heritage varieties are to be used where possible and this has proved quite a challenge, not least the hot weather bringing on all the plants and rabbits finding them very tasty! Medlar trees at the back of the stand are designed to reflect the orchards of the National Trust.

On winning the National Trust Garden Collection stand competition, Louise said: "To create a garden space showcasing the best in British design and craftsmanship for the National Trust at The Chelsea Flower Show; a great British institution, is a dream project for me. I'm thrilled to be a part of the team."

Each item in the garden collection takes inspiration from the extensive gardens, buildings, collections and land in the National Trust’s care and all are produced using traditional crafts and techniques.

For example, Scotts of Thrapston Summerhouses have based their licensed designs on outdoor structures cared for by the Trust, including the

Medlar trees will reflect the National Trust forests and woodlands

Whereas Gaze Burvill has concentrated on traditional wood crafts that can be seen at so many properties through the National Trust and using these have designed and produced garden furniture which is new and innovative, thereby creating heritage for future generations.

Phillippa Green, Brand Licensing Manager at the National Trust said, “We are delighted to be working with such an amazing group of companies who share our passion for the National Trust and its principles and who are working collaboratively in order to support the charity so effectively.”

British suppliers

Garden Furniture by Gaze Burvill
Turning Table/Seat Set made from English FSC Sweet Chestnut from a wood in Herefordshire.

Greenhouses by Alitex
Seven greenhouse designs inspired by gardens cared for by the National Trust, including Hidcote Manor Garden and Scotney Castle.

Sheds by Crane Sheds and Summerhouses
Three traditional shed designs inspired by design influences from a number of properties in East Anglia, including Felbrigg Hall and Sheringham Park.

Stone Paving by Westminster Stone
A range of paving inspired by traditional designs examples of which can be found within many properties cared for by the National Trust with a contemporary flavour.

Summerhouses by Scotts of Thrapston
Two summerhouse designs based on structures in the Trust’s care; The Writers Retreat (George Bernard Shaw’s summerhouse) and The Reading Room (summerhouse belonging to Virginia Woolf).

Wild Bird Care by Wildlife Habitats
A range of bird boxes, bird feeders, bird tables, wild animal habitats and wild bird food made from sustainable materials to encourage wildlife to visit your garden.

Wooden Gates by Oak Leaf Gates
A range of traditionally crafted contemporary design wooden garden gates made from British FSC oak.

More information

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011

The Common Medlar - Discover more about this strange fruit which has been used in Britain since medieval times.

NTGC - National Trust Garden Collection which will launch at Chelsea 2011.
By choosing National Trust licensed products, consumers help to support the work of the charity in continuing to preserve the many beautiful places and spaces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for everyone to enjoy – forever for everyone.

The National Trust - a charity with a love for preserving historic places and spaces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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.

Natural England hope that a new guide will curb the demise of the English fruit orchard.

Traditional orchards are a classic feature of the English landscape and are fantastic places for wildlife but they have been disappearing at an alarming rate.

According to Natural England over 75% of traditional orchards in England have vanished since the 1950s.

New guides produced to help orchard owners

Orchards are home to wildlife

Restoring and managing orchards is good for wildlife and it is hoped the new guides will also help protect the orchard eco-system.

The guides are designed to provide practical advice to land managers on how best to look after orchards in their care and are now available as PDFs  by following the links below.

Orchards are important for a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna and in 2007, traditional orchards received UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority status in recognition of their importance to wildlife.

Wildlife is attracted to the mosaic of habitats such as dead wood, scrub, hedgerows, unimproved grassland and ponds.

Declining bird species such as the lesser spotted woodpecker and bullfinch can thrive in orchard environments, as can a wide diversity of mosses, lichen and fungi and bat species.

Traditional orchards also provide important habitats for the beautiful, but rare noble chafer beetle, that lives in the dead wood of older trees.

Orchard advice guides (.pdf)

• TIN012 - Traditional orchards: a summary
• TIN013 - Traditional orchards: site and tree selection - This information note provides guidance on how to select sites for new orchards and the types of tree to plant within new and existing orchards.
• TIN014 - Traditional orchards: planting and establishing fruit trees -This information note provides guidance on planting in and replanting an orchard and the establishment of new trees.
• TIN015 - Traditional orchards: an introduction to pruning
• TIN016 - Traditional orchards: formative pruning of young trees - This information note provides guidance on why young fruit trees require formative pruning and on how to prune them. The main part of the guidance applies mainly to apples and pears, in particular dessert varieties. The final section explains the main differences when pruning other fruit trees.
• TIN017 - Traditional orchards: maintenance pruning - This information note provides guidance on the reasons for the routine pruning of fruit trees and advice on the different methods of achieving this.
• TIN018 - Traditional orchards: restoring and managing mature and neglected orchards
• TIN019 - Traditional orchards: fruit tree health - This information note provides information on identifying, and managing for, the main pests, diseases and nutrient deficiencies that may affect a traditional orchard.
• TIN020 - Traditional orchards: orchards and wildlife - This provides information on the wildlife found in orchards and gives guidance on how to manage orchards for wildlife.
• TIN021 - Traditional orchards: glossary

Medlars are one of our ancient British fruits making a come back.

During the middle ages, people would have been very familiar with this strange looking small fruit which is actually eaten in it's over ripe or "bletted" stage.

Common Medlar

No longer in commercial cultivation, old gardens are generally home to the only trees in the UK.  Some of these trees will be about two hundred years old.

Tracklements Ltd. in Wiltshire have launched a delicious new Medlar Jelly. Great with turkey, pheasant or game it is perfect for the Christmas table or the cold cuts' table for left-over meat.

The medlars for this jelly were picked by the kind people int he surrounding area. You can see pictures of the donatees and picking adventures on their facebook page.

Tracklements started a quest to find some of these ancient medlar trees and the option of taking the unused fruit in return for finished product.

BBC Countryfile heard of this project and joined them picking for a day.

Put your fruit to work

We are aware that there are various food producers around the UK who will take in unused fruit from gardens and orchards in return for a quantity of finished product.

It would be handy for producers and growers if we could create a database of people willing to link up and put the country's unused fruit to good use.  If you are interested in joining our list then please contact us via the comments section at the end of this post.

More information

Common Medlar - More information about the Common Medlar

Tracklements Ltd

BBC Countryfile

A small orchard of apple trees is a poignant reminder of the lives torn apart by war and a new life forged in a foreign land.

70 year old trees, miles from home

During World War II, hundreds of Ukrainian men were forced to join the German Army.  As POW's, some of them were brought to Scotland from Rimini in Italy.

One of the POW's, Mr Fallat, brought with him three matchboxes full of seeds.

He said;

"Where this orchard is, will be home"

The apple trees are being carefully tended by the custodians of the Hallmuir Ukrainian Chapel and are still cropping prolifically today.

The Ukrainian Chapel at Hallmuir, just outside Lockerbie, is a carefully preserved remnant of a 40 strong hut complex, designed to house over 400 Ukrainian POW's, who would never see their home or families again.

Ukrainian_chapel

Italian apples

Italy is Europe's largest producer of apples fruit, and is the third largest in the world after China and the United States.

The European Commission for apples has in fact awarded Italy with three Designations of Protected Origin.

More Information

Heritageandhistory.com - Ukrainian Chapel, Lockerbie

Italtrade.com - The Made in Italy official portal - Italian apples galore.

DPcamps.org - Rimini Displaced Persons Camp

Our three year old heritage apple trees have yielded their first fruits this year and the taste is out of this world!.

September has arrived and with it, the first crop of apples from our recently planted heritage apple orchard and although the yield is

Scotch Bridget

not vast, the taste and quality of the fruit cannot compare to the bland supermarket varieties.

We planted five eating apples and five cooking apples, all of varieties suited to a northern climate and all grafted onto dwarf rootstock, which should give us more manageable plants.

Our apples were supplied by Adam's Apples in Devon and we sought their advice on the best varieties suited to our region which would tolerate being grown as cordons or small trees.  On tasting, I have to say, the selection is outstanding; the eating apples have such diverse flavours and colours and the cooking apples have wonderful textures and flavours.

The crop this year has not been big enough to store but some of the cooking apples have been prepared for the freezer and should last well into the winter.

We always garden organically, using no pesticides or fungicides and as a result, one or two of the fruits may have the occasional blemish but these are nothing more than slight skin imperfections and in no way detract from the flavour of the fruits.

The trees will be given a good mulch and feed this winter and we look forward to next year's crop.

More information

Adam's Apples - Talaton plants in Devon supply a huge range of heritage apple varieties along with very helpful advice and expertise.

Vegetable gardeners in Wales are being urged to preserve their heirloom varieties and make them more widely available.

The Dyfi Valley Seed Savers in Wales are looking to allotment and garden vegetable growers, to help trace all the home grown Welsh vegetable varieties they can find. They  are especially interested in tomatoes resistant to blight, rocket that is slow to bolt and strong growing winter salads.

Tomato flower

Many varieties have been handed down through the generations and are not available on the open market.  These seeds are invaluable to local growers as they have adapted over the years to the climate and soil of the region.

Funding from a rural development agency has been granted to Dyfi Valley Seed Savers, to trial the vegetables they find at 10 selected sites throughout Powys.

Seeds discovered through the scheme will be redistributed through local seed swaps and also through the Heritage Seed Library run by Garden Organic in Coventry.

If you think you have something they might be interested in, The Dyfi Valley Seed Savers would love to hear from you.

Please get in touch with any information about the vegetable's history, growing, taste and appearance characteristics, or contact them for more information by e.mailing; Claire@dyfivalleyseedsavers.org.uk

More information

Dyfi Valley Seed Savers

Heritage Seed Library

GLASU - Supporting a sustainable future for the people of Powys