Newsflash! John Deere to attend Open Farm Sunday

We have just had some great news!  John Deere, the world's leading manufacturer of farm equipment and one of the main sponsors of Open Farm Sunday, will be attending our event on June 12 and bringing some of their famous green and yellow machinery.


Needless to say we are absolutely delighted to be able to show some of the best boys toys in the world! We look forward to all the oohs and aahs from our guests on the day.


Open Farm Sunday is on 12 June 2011.  West Bradley Orchards and our neighbour Lower Farm will be open for this free event from 10.00 - 4.00.


West Bradley Orchards, West Bradley, Somerset BA6 8LT. 01458 851222

Natural England - Traditional Orchards in England

Thursday 5 May saw the publication of a huge report by Natural England and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species into the state of England’s traditional orchards. This lengthy undertaking has identified over 35,000 individual orchards, covering nearly 17,000 hectares, and has assessed their condition.


Somerset, with 2741 orchards identified covering some 1687 hectares comes second only to Herefordshire, with 3360 orchards covering 2481 hectares. But whereas 14% of Herefordshire’s orchards are assessed as in ‘poor’ condition, here in Somerset the figure rises to 61%, which is absolutely shocking.


A traditional orchard is a man-made thing - we choose the varieties, we plant the trees in straight lines, we graze it with livestock, we hedge it around to keep the stock in, and we harvest and make use of the fruit. Here in Somerset that means not just our five-a-day, it means our cider and our apple juice, a growing, wealth-providing local industry.


Apple trees are early senescing hardwoods. After about 80 years they are at the end of their lives, but prior to that they are a wonderful habitat for wildlife, and at the end of that time they become even richer, providing homes and food for insects and birds.


However we must also remember that we need to produce food, and that there is only 3% of the world’s surface that can be used to grow it. As our population grows we have to consider how we are going to meet that need. Our orchards can improve biodiversity at the same time as increasing food production.


People tend to look at neglected trees and see them as beyond recovery. But we can take an orchard, with careful management, from a state of complete neglect to a place where it is not only breaking even but is commercially profitable due to the growth of artisan cider and apple juice makers in Somerset.


This process of orchard restoration is not only beneficial to the longevity of the orchard, it also improves the wildlife habitat. Now we have been made fully aware of the scale of the problem with our orchards urgent action is required.


We can make a big difference but the project has to be led by commercial need and the appetite of the public for artisan produced premium cider and apple juice from our traditional orchards. There is the opportunity to do it and a definite market for the product. For the project to have meaning and sustainability there needs to be regular care. Apple sales, which finance restoration and secure future management, are the key.


Orchards can have ten times the biodiversity of a grass field, ten times! They are man-made things that we actually got right for a change! Let’s give life back to them and make them part of our economy and our landscape, and our future, not just our past.

Open Farm Sunday at West Bradley Orchards

David Cotton, left, and Neil Macdonald, with two of David's calves

Orchard Groundforce and Bridge Farm, neighbours in West Bradley, Somerset, are joining forces for this year’s Open Farm Sunday.

Open Farm Sunday, a free event, is to be held on June 12 this year. It is an opportunity to visit local farms and find out what happens on them. This will be the sixth Open Farm Sunday and over 450 farms across the country are expected to open to the public. 

Neil Macdonald, from Orchard Groundforce, said 

“We have 58 acres of apples, pears and walnuts here at West Bradley.  We will be running tours around the orchards and answering questions about everything we do here.” 

“The Orchard Pig Gloucester Old Spot piglets will also be here to welcome visitors, and there will be food for the hungry and drinks for the thirsty.”

Bridge Farm, adjacent to West Bradley Orchards, is a dairy farm run by David Cotton, chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.

“We’re a family farm. I’m the fourth generation and we farm 600 acres with 160 milking cows, over 300 young stock around the farm and lots of calves.”

“Many people see farmers working, but they don’t have an opportunity to get beyond the farm gates to see what happens, so this is a chance for people to find out what farmers do on a daily basis.  They can ask questions and see behind the scenes.”

“All our milk is sold through the Co-op Milk Link.  It goes down to Wiseman’s at Bridgewater and is sold through the supermarkets, so if people are buying locally produced West Country milk there’s a chance that it comes from us.”

“On Open Farm Sunday there will be calves for people to see, and beef animals that we are rearing for the food chain, plus some of our machinery for people interested in equipment.”

“We also have some lovely footpaths that go right through the middle of the farm.  We grow wheat here as well and there’s an opportunity to take a circular walk that brings you back to West Bradley.”

Visitors should come to West Bradley Orchards, BA6 8LT, where there will be free parking.  Both farms will be open 10.00 - 4.00.

West Bradley is between Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet, 2 miles off the A361/A37

Wedding Belle

April seems to have zipped by.  We were racing to finish all our pruning at the beginning of the month, then we were racing to get all the new trees planted, plus a large new orchard for a client; now we are worrying because of the drought and the impact it may be having on all the baby trees.  And in the middle of all this we opened the orchards here at West Bradley to the public for our annual Apple Blossom Day event, close on the heels of the big Royal Wedding day.

Usually we worry that the blossom won't have appeared in time for Apple Blossom Day.  This year we worried that, with spring arriving so early, it would all have DISappeared!  The cider trees were in full blossom however, looking wonderful, and the pigs have a lovely new home under the oaks.