Category: 2024

Earth Hour 23rd March 2024

On a windy, chilly evening with a clear, star filled sky, Orchard members switched off their lights and celebrated Earth Hour in the Forest Garden. A fire helped keep the cold at bay and we were able to use a telescope to view the moon and Jupiter. No shooting stars this year unfortunately, next year maybe!

Early Spring in the Orchard

The weather is now warming up (hopefully!) and the days are lengthening. If you take a walk around the Orchard you will see lots of signs that Spring is on it’s way.

The fruit trees are budding and there are some already in blossom. By May the Orchard trees will be clouds of pink and white. The soft fruit bushes are also showing signs of growth and the rhubarb, always the first fruit to grow, is on the move too.

Willow Weaving Morning March 16th

On a gloriously sunny March morning, a group of Orchard Members met for a willow weaving session led by Jo from Abundant Earth.

None of us were experienced willow weavers and Jo was a fabulous teacher, showing us the different weaving techniques and helping us correct our sometimes wonky bean frames! We learnt a lot about the craft of willow weaving and about the willow we were using.

Many of our Orchard members are also members of the Margery Flatts Allotment Association and you can now see our amazing bean frames dotted around the plots waiting for the spring planting!

Please do have wander up to the Orchard and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and possibly admire our handiwork!

Winter Pruning January 2024

Members of the Orchard meet to continue the winter pruning of the apple trees. They worked on the forest garden area at far end of the orchard. Unfortunately some of our apple trees have canker and we had to remove one of the trees.

Pruning will continue during the next few work sessions.

Wassailing January 2024

We were lucky after such a rainy start of the year to have a dry and occasionally sunny day for our Wassailing.

We started the day with a winter pruning session. At 11.30 members and family gathered in the square for the Wassailing. Wassailing is a traditionally way of thanking the fruit trees for last year’s crop and to feed them with bread and cider to encourage the trees to produce a wonderful crop of fruit this year.

Traditionally everyone makes a lot of noise and taps the trees to wake them up from their winter sleep. Every year someone volunteers to be the Green Man. This year we had a Green Woman. In folklore the Green Man represents new life and often attends Wassailing events.

Many thanks to our wonderful musicians, singers and dancers for making the Wassailing such a success. Thanks also to Paul and Sonny for opening their home for us to share lunch together.

A Soggy Start to the New Year

Happy New Year to all of our members and friends!

We are off to a rain washed New Year! The grass areas are very wet so be careful as you walk around. Hopefully the ground will be drier by the time we hold our first work session of the year. Don’t forget about the Wassailing after the work session.