Restore your orchard using traditional apple varieties
Anyone in Herefordshire seeking to restore an old orchard or trying to trace traditional local varieties of apples should look no further than Herefordshire Council's Fruit Kit Scheme.
Run by the council's parks, countryside and leisure development service, the scheme is now in its ninth year and sources old fruit varieties, many of which were first raised by local fruit producers.
Varieties on offer for orchards this year include cooking apple Queen Alexandra, first raised by William Crump at the Madresfield Court Estate near Malvern, which cooks to a brisk yet rich puree which makes the perfect apple sauce.
Dessert varieties Blue Pearmain and Channel Beauty are also available for orchards as are the dual-purpose Bardsey Island, Siddington Russet and Captain Tom which was sourced by Frank P. Matthews many years ago from Geoffrey Knight at Colwall.
Garden varieties are also on offer and include Bardsey Island, cooking apple Catshead and dessert apples Cissy and King Coffee.
The trees will be on sale at Queenswood Country Park, Dinmore Hill, from 10am until 3pm on Saturday, November 24 and Sunday, November 25.
James Bisset, Herefordshire Council's principal countryside officer, said: "The Fruit Tree Kit scheme offers a great opportunity to source these rare varieties and keep the bud-stock growing for future generations to propagate and enjoy.
"Each variety has its own distinct taste and offers a real treat for the tastebuds when compared with mass-produced apples which are on sale in supermarkets. Unusually Bardsey Island has a strong lemon scent while King Coffee, which was first exhibited in 1934, has a distinct aroma of freshly brewed coffee!
"This year I have included something different, a variety called Langley Bullace which is a bullace-damson cross. Both of these are cultivated forms of wild plum and the round blue-black fruit are ideal for cooking, preserves, jams and compotes," he added.
The kits which include a tree supplied as a 'one-year maiden' along with a tree tie cost just £9 each, whether you purchase those budded on to M25 vigorous rootstock suitable for orchards or those on M26/M9 rootstock, which results in 10ft garden sized trees.
A leaflet with more information on all the varieties available can be downloaded from www.herefordshire.gov.uk/Fruittrees
Trees can be ordered in advance by contacting James Bisset, telephone 01432 260848 or email jbisset@herefordshire.gov.uk
All advance orders must be received by November 17 and trees must be collected from Queenswood Country Park on Saturday, November 24 or Sunday, November 25 from 10am until 3pm.
