With the social distancing measures associated with Covid-19, our local garden centre has been running a 50% sale on its fruit trees to get rid of mounting stock. We took advantage of this offer and have now fully planted our orchard that consists of 25 fruit trees.
Our choice of trees was based on what we could do with the fruit. So we have apple, plum, pear, quince and cherry trees. Cherries can be a problem because they get picked off by birds, so we purchased some protective netting that will hopefully protect our harvest.
I’ll be honest, digging the holes manually was a huge job, but now that they’re in, we just need to water them to get them established. Where’s the rain when you want it?
So what did we get? Good question. There are varieties we know and others we don’t, so we’ll report on which fruit options have been the best. In most instances we have two of each.
- Sunburst cherries
- Lanes Prince Albert (apple)
- Charles Ross (apple)
- Howgate Wonder (apple)
- James Grieve (apple)
- Peasgood Nonsuch (apple)
- Quince Vranja
- Conference Pear
- Merryweather (plum)
- Marjorie’s Seedling (plum)
- Victoria (plum)
Frankly, our orchard doesn’t look very impressive at the moment. It’s just a bunch of sticks, branches and twigs with identifier labels in a field, but we’re looking forward to nurturing them to healthy, established trees that play a role in our sustainability journey.
Most of the varieties of trees we have will encourage birds and beneficial insects, improving our biodiversity. From what we’ve read our little orchard should have a positive effect on the ecosystem.
We will provide regular updates on our progress.
Ah, an orchard is a wonderful thing to grow, and a legacy for generations to come. Wildlife will love it, and hopefully you’ll have produce that will fill jars and bottles and bellies for years. You’ll be able to make puddings and jams and fruit wines. It’s gonna be great. I look forward to your progress with great interest. ????
Our objective is build up as many food sources as possible and become as sustainable as possible. I’ve heard that quince liqueur is nice. Will look into that. And the jams and puddings ought to be good too. Fingers crossed we avoid pests and diseases.
Quince jelly is lovely, sweet and tart and aromatic. You can make quince and lemon marmalade too. Moths love quince trees so you’ll be encouraging and supporting their diversity.
Seems quince is underrated and underutilized – we enjoy quince jelly as an accompaniment to cheese.
Our veg patch is also almost ready, and planting our veg is now contingent on Coronavirus delivery delays.
You’re making great progress in difficult times ????
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