Category: Orchard events

Sponsored Walk around the Orchard: raising money to twin our compost toilet!

Toilet Twinning is helping to transform lives in some of the poorest places on the planet. Vulnerable households will: learn about the importance of sanitation and hygiene; build their own loo; gain access to clean water; enjoy better health – and take a massive step out of generational poverty.

We are holding a sponsored walk around the Orchard to raise funds to twin our compost toilet. We are planning to walk 84 circuits of the orchard.

£60 lets us twin with one toilet, if we raise more than this it will be brilliant because we can twin with more toilets!

Moth Identification Day

There was a great turnout of members and their families to see how many different species of moth we had caught in the moth traps in the Orchard. Here are just a few of them, and a list of the moths we found. It highlights the great diversity of wildlife in the orchard! Many thanks to Terry and Viv for organising this.

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!

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!

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.

Orchard Table in the Village!

Sue and Lynn set up our orchard table and invited everyone to taste the different varieties of apple. Many of the apples and fruit we grow in the orchard are heritage varieties and can not be bought in shops. You can find more information and how to become a member of the Community Orchard by visiting the ‘Orchard’ page of our website.

Allotment BBQ June 2023

The Margery Flatts Allotment Association organised a Summer BBQ and invited Orchard Members along. A big thanks to Gill and Steve for organising this event. Despite the rather mixed weather we still managed to consume lots of delicious pizzas and marshmallows!