PRUNING MASTER CLASS

PRUNING MASTER CLASS  

By Jan Lambourn our very own Fruit Expert.

Saturday February 13^th  2016 from 10-30am 

(coffee and apple cake)

As Friends of the Orchard, do join us to learn the correct method to prune top fruit (Apples and Pears)

We will be able to brush up on the basics and then move on to pruning our own Orchard trees some of which will need the use of our new ladder.

Do apply quickly as numbers are limited for the class. We will be giving priority to anyone who has worked in any capacity for the Orchard, and also taking into account those who have been before.

Applications to Helen by January 31^st please

We will be going on to The British Legion for lunch afterwards.

In addition, during the afternoon, 8 of us will be visiting an old walled garden in Oxted where we will be tackling restorative pruning on an old espalier apple tree.

Further details from Helen 01883 713160 or helenellson205@btinternet.com

SCHOOL POETRY COMPETITION 2015

For the first time this year the Limpsfield Community Orchard has sponsored a poetry competition at Limpsfield Infant School. Each child was asked to think about visiting the Orchard and to describe their thoughts and feelings about apples and pears and write about this in a poem. Writing the poems was done during school time and Jenny Baird (Headmistress) and Dr Julia Nash (Head of Science) gave tremendous support as did each of the other class teachers.

The results were excellent. Much was made of the crunchiness, the redness and the readiness to be eaten. We hope very much that the children will remember their early days at school and the happy visits they have made to the Orchard to see the trees at every season, the blossom and this year trying the apples too.

We, the Community Orchard, were delighted to be able to give each reception class a book about apples, and individual prizes were awarded to Yr 2s Emma Newton, Connie McMillan, Maisie Felstead and Yr 1s Katherine Dawson and Emma Kitchen

The prizes were presented during School Assembly by Helen Ellson (Chair LCO) and afterwards the prize winners walked up to the Orchard to hang copies of some of the poems in the trees so that visitors to the Orchard can see them.

APPLE HARVESTING 2015

We went again to the Orchard this weekend and picked a lot of the ripe apples which are really delicious. I shall be taking a large bag of SUNSET (eating apples) to Limpsfield School for the children next week. The second tree is not as ripe…..we need to wait another 10 days or so.
We have also picked all the BOUNTIFUL (these are cookers…..they’ll keep until Christmas in a cool place) they have cropped really well ….there were none at all last year. I am going to take some of these into the Memorial stores in Limpsfield for distribution. There will also be some here at my house ….so if anyone would like to collect a bag please ring me (01883 713160).
The HEREFORDSHIRE RUSSETS have cropped really well too. There are two trees pretty well laden but they are not ripe yet. They should be ready in a few more weeks…..so do go and have a look and a taste…..an apple is ready when it lifts off easily from the tree, the seeds are brown and the sweet ripe flavour is there. There are also some LORD LAMBOURNE which will keep well, and some FIESTA too so do have a look and take a few to taste.
It’s been really exciting seeing how the fruit has developed this year. Some of the trees towards the back of the Orchard (away from the A25) don’t seem to have done so well. They may be under stress due to their nearness to the Copper Beech. It was certainly very dry earlier in the year. The pears also seem to be taking their time to come into fruiting. I have every hope of the Buerre Hardy though….they are known to need a few years to become established before cropping.
Our next task is to collect manure which will then stay in bags over the winter to rot down. We will spread this around the trees in March.
The pruning day will be sometime after Christmas….please do let me know if you are interested. It is a most interesting and informative day.
And of course do make a diary note of the WASSAIL which is on Sunday 7 February 2016.
With all good wishes
Helen

Ellison's Orange

Lord Lambourne

HARVEST TASTING DAY

LIMPSFIELD COMMUNITY ORCHARD

HARVEST  TASTING DAY 

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

10-30 TO 12-00

An invitation for you to come and taste the crop and perhaps take some fruit home!

COFFEE / APPLE CAKE /APPLE JUICE

will be served

More information 01883 713160 or 716523

helenellson205@btinternet.com

 

NEW NATURE TRAIL

We are invited to attend the opening on Saturday 18 July from 2 to 4pm of the new Nature Trail which runs just off Grub Street.
The path now goes off from the Community Orchard trail into a lovely clearing that is ideal for picnics and the children at school will be using it for their new Forest School
Do join us - and bring your family and dogs as it is a lovely trail that goes through the woods by Grub Street.  Refreshments will be available and the trail will be opened by the donors of the grant to Limpsfield in Bloom, who have also funded this joint project.

 

A SUCCESSFUL WORKING PARTY

A group of 8 of us gathered in the Orchard this week, to give it a final tidy before we are judged on Thursday 9 July as part of the Limpsfield In Bloom Competition.

The trees are nicely free of weeds, the apples have been thinned and the some of the brambles tamed. The hedging plants have had a trim and in some areas are beginning to look like proper hedges.

We hope the crop will be as good as last year….but the pears are again disappointing for some reason, and 3 of the apple trees are suffering from possibly apple scab, a fungal disease which is very common. We do not wish to spray the trees as we try to maintain organic growing methods. The extreme heat and dryness does not help….we really need some rain soon to help swell the crop.

But the Orchard is still looking very pretty, 

the foxgloves have been really lovely and it is an ideal place to have a little picnic with your children or grandchildren now we are having such warm weather.
Tasting day is Saturday 12 September from 10.30am. Do please come along and taste some of our fruit and perhaps take some home with you.

  General view of the Orchard  June 2015 

WORKING PARTY WEDNESDAY 1 JULY

This is advance notice of a Working Party on Wed 1 July from 10.00am which we will need to get the Orchard ready for Limpsfield in Bloom….we are to be inspected on Thursday 9 July.
We will need to re-weed inside the tree guards, weed any of the mulched areas, do a litter pick and generally leave it looking tidy and cared for!
So please put the date into your diaries …..but I will remind you nearer the time.
With many thanks as always for your help!

Helen and the Orchard Team

Limpsfield School make Bird Scarers

20 May 2015 Bird Scarers made by Limpsfield School

This week in the Orchard we received some beautiful bird scarers made in the shape of owls. They have been made by the children from Limpsfield School and hopefully will make all the difference by scaring the local birds who damaged many of our apples last year by pecking at them. Each scarer has a shiny CD at its centre and is very sparkly and SCARY. Do go and have a look.

Blossom Appreciation and Coffee Morning!

About 30 of us gathered on Sunday 10 May in the sunshine to enjoy the beautiful bluebells and the plentiful blossom in the Orchard. This must surely bode well for a good crop of apples and pears later in the year, as now I think there is little chance of frost damage. Hopefully there will be some Mirabelle plums too….although sadly the damson trees are slow to get going.

We enjoyed apple cake (5 different recipes) kindly made by Friends of the Orchard and welcomed some new visitors.

If you haven’t seen the blossom yet, do make time to go up to the Orchard…..it really is looking so pretty. And do try the walk through the bluebell woods too (starting from Grub Street) before they begin to fade.

The next flowery crop in the Orchard will be the foxgloves…..probably in early June.

Manuring Work Party at the Orchard

A keen group of 9 of us gathered this week to spread manure

Mirabelle in blossom 8 April 2015

onto the trees in the Orchard. We had gathered this lovely horse manure from stables at Only Fools and Horses on Pollards Wood Road, Limpsfield, in the autumn…..quite fresh and strawy then. But the texture, after being allowed to mature for 6 months in bags, was perfect for use and we spread a couple of bags on each tree and topped up each site with rotted wood mulch. The fruit trees are now fed and protected from summer drought.

Now we just have to wait for the blossom and hope the bees have equable conditions for pollination…..no frost I hope. 

The 2015 Manuring Team

Taking a break

 

SPRING UPDATE 2015

We really did have a good year last year. A magnificent crop of healthy apples which we were able to use in several ways….tasted by many at our Tasting Day, picked and taken home, with bags given to Limpsfield School for the children and lastly some for the Harvest Festival in St Peter’s Church. Not a single one was wasted. There were a few pears….always a slower crop to become established but no damsons or Mirabelles. I must admit my very favourite were the Sunset apples….truly delicious….if you are choosing a tree for your own garden do try to find one. Another good cropper with a distinctive flavour is the Herefordshire Russet.

This year we are doing our very best to ensure another good crop of fruit for us all to enjoy. We had our successful pruning day in January, shaping the trees to ensure maximum crops. This is a real hands on workshop, and this year after pruning our own Orchard we went on to a garden in Limpsfield where we tackled some really old trees. Shortly (April 8^th) we have our annual manuring day when we weed and feed the trees….a most enjoyable job (if rather dirty) much enjoyed by all who come to help.

In February we had our annual Wassail on a clear starry night with over 270 adults and children attending. The trees were well and truly wassailed with shouts to ward off the devils, a terrific bonfire and much hot spicy cider and apple cake. Many thanks are due to Jenny Ephgrave who masterminded the evening with her large band of helpers. And of course we must mention Ed Heaver our chief Wassailler and his team who entertain us with songs and bless the trees after the torch lit procession over the Common from the British Legion. This was well written up in the St Peter’s Limpsfield Parish News and the Tandridge News…..so our fame is spreading!

At this time of year (April/May) the trees are growing very fast. The flower buds are fattening and change can be seen almost daily. The glorious blossom is already on the Mirabelles. We have fingers crossed that there will be no late frosts to inhibit fruit set once pollination has taken place. Do try to get up into the Orchard to have a look round and see the annual magic taking place….PUT YOUR GLASSES ON! You need to look carefully to see when exactly the little fruitlets form.

We are being helped (as last year) by the children from Limpsfield School who are providing a new

A perfect Sunset apple August 2014

set of Earwig Refuges. They are beautifully decorated. The children have also devised some fancy bird scarers which will go into place in June….bird damage last year was our worst problem….once the birds peck the fruit then the damaged area is open to wasp attack and the fruit deteriorates quickly. Hopefully this year the problem will be solved!

Dates for the Diary Blossom Viewing Coffee Morning Sunday 10 May  from 10-30

Apple Tasting Morning Saturday 12 September from 10-30

Tasting Day September 2014

Good wishes to you all for a fruitful year from Helen and the Orchard Team