Celebrating and remembering old fruit and vegetable varieties
The Golden Spire apple was reported to have been discovered in 1850 by Richard Smith of Worcester.
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.
The Carlisle Codlin apple is thought to have originated in Carlisle in Cumbria and records show evidence of it’s presence before 1830.
Fruits have a rather soft and slightly coarse textured flesh, juicy and mildly acidic. The skin is very smooth and shiny when ripe.
Cultivation of this apple is probably only of local heritage interest, it does not have a good flavour and its very upright habit, makes picking of the fruit difficult.
Uses: Desert
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Early May
Picking: Late September
Natural Storage: October – December
The Carlisle Codlin apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.
Apples are being celebrated throughout the UK and elsewhere at this time of year at various Apple Day Events.
With this in mind we thought we would create a word search using many old varieties of apples .
See how many you can find hidden in the jumble of letters.
If you are holding an Apple Day event then let us know about it and we can help spread the word.
The files are in PDF form so Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.
[download#1#image]
(Available only if registered)
[download#2#image]
Fritillaria meleagris or Snake’s Head Fritillary as it is more commonly known, is a native of Europe, found growing in damp grassland and near rivers.
Apart from it’s original English name of Snake’s Head fritillary, It has many local name variations such as Simple Fritillary, Checkered Daffodil, Frog-cup, Chess Flower, Guinea-hen Flower and Leper Lily,
The flowers are nodding, dainty, six petaled bells, hang from slender stems about 15 to 30cm in height. They range from white to various shades of purple and bear a unique, chequered patterning which is quite obvious on the purple flowers but more of a feint “water mark” on the white flowers.
Fritillaria meleagris flowers from March to May from a small bulb, about 2 cm in diameter, commonly found growing in grasslands in damp soils and river meadows.
It is the only species of Fritillary native to Britain, but is now quite rare in the wild due to modern farming and land cultivation techniques.
Places to find Fritillaria meleagris in the wild:
The Meadow of Magdalen College, Oxford,
The village of Ducklington, Oxfordshire (which holds a Fritillary Sunday festival)
North Meadow National Nature Reserve, Wiltshire
Meadows in Kungsängen, just outside Uppsala, Sweden (also giving the flower its Swedish name, kungsängslilja).
Bulbs are available commercially and are extremely hardy. Best placed in light shade and under deciduous trees and shrubs in free-draining soil, or naturalised in grass. Bulbs of the Fritilaria meleagris are poisonous.
Where to obtain the bulbs;
Thompson & Morgan – Plant, bulb and seed specialists
Fentongollan – Cornish bulb, plant and vegetable supplier
De Jager – Flower bulb specialists since 1868
The Wild Flower Shop – Specialists in British native flowers
Crocus – Plant and garden supplier
The triploid apple, Blenheim Orange was discvoered by Mr Kempster at Woodstock near Blenheim, England around 1740.
Distribution of the apple did not start until 1818 and it received the Banksian Medal in 1822.
Fruits have a creamy white, somewhat course texture with rather dry flesh. It has a rich sweet, nutty, aromatic flavour.
Said to be good with cheese and for making Apple Charlotte.
Uses: Desert
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Early to Mid May
Picking: Late September
Natural Storage: October – December
The Blenheim Orange 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.