Magners

Earlier this month the Norton Cider Growers had an exceedingly good meeting at the Shepton Cider Mill with C&C Magners, where the future of the relationship between the company and the growers was presented.

A willingness to work together was clearly evident, to the extent that C&C has pledged a fund of £1million for growers to offer ideas and projects for investment over the next year. Anything from new technology or equipment to new trials and plantings or whatever growers think will improve the business for C&C going forward.  

Of particular interest will be ideas that will improve the supply of quality fruit, and extend the season, plus projects that fit with the C&C sustainability model of economic, social and environmental considerations.

Equipment for hire

If you need some help over the harvest we have some equipment for hire that might make your life a lot easier.  

We have a pedestrian self-propelled harvester with which you could comfortably pick up 5 tons a day, which comes on its own trailer and with as many apple boxes as you require. 

Hire cost £50 per day.

For budding juice and cider makers we also have a Speidel mill and Hydrovane press for hire, capable of pressing up to 1000L per day with very little effort - also only £50 per day.

We also have for sale 1000 L square white plastic IBC containers, in a cage, and 210 L blue plastic drums, both suitable for making cider.

1000 L - £65
210 L - £25 

Call Deborah on 01963 240581

Pick-Your-Own at West Bradley Orchards

West Bradley Orchards will be open for Pick-Your-Own on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weekends in September, Friday - Sunday, 10.00 - 5.00.  West Bradley is one of the few remaining Somerset orchards to grow dessert fruit as well as cider fruit.

Dessert varieties include Bramley, Cox, Charles Ross, Egremont Russet, Worcester Pearmain, Jonagold, Reinette d'Orleans and others.  Pears are Beth, Comice, Concorde and Conference. 

Sunday 9 September will be our annual Apple Scrumping Day.  Come along to the orchards, pick your own fruit and we will help you to turn it into juice.  Equipment, tuition and bottles provided. This is a great family day out, and you get apple juice to take home! 

If the cider fruit is ripe you can choose to press that instead of dessert fruit - start off your own cider blend!

For PYO info call 01458 850227

Neil Macdonald

Both of our cider-making workshops were booked out, so we are planning another one on Thursday 27 September.

As this will be right in the middle of the dessert harvest, and at the start of the cider fruit harvest, it will give everyone the opportunity to press some juice, experiment with blending, and take the results home to await developments!

Participants so far have enjoyed the opportunity to taste a huge selection of West Country ciders.  Some of them have been from the major brands but most are from small local producers whom we know well.

The variation of flavours has been eye-opening, as have the things to watch out for that indicate an unfinished fermentation or oxidation, or worse!

We have been so pleased that people have brought along samples of their own brews to 

share.  All have been extremely interesting, and some downright entertaining!

On the one hand making cider couldn’t be simpler: press some apples into juice and wait.  But if you want to make a superior product there are one or two pointers we can offer that will really make a difference.

Neil Macdonald will be tutoring the workshop and there will be a guided tour of West Bradley Orchards and Orchard Pig’s pressing and bottling plant.  Lunch is also included.

The fee for the workshop will be £95.  To book please call us on 01458 851222 or 01458 850154.

Royal Bath and West Society Show

This year’s show was memorable for being the largest cider competition in the world, with 490 entries. Making a much admired appearance was celebrity chef Raymond Blanc,(seen here with Nick Bradstock from the NACM) who had all the cidermakers nodding appreciatively as he led the judging panel.

Everyone was delighted when pomologist Liz Copas, one of the

great apple identifiers in Somerset, a pioneer at Long Ashton Research Centre and a

gifted artist, was presented with the Bath & West Society’s Gold medal for a lifetime’s contribution to the world of cider production, by Professor Peter Gregory, chief executive of East Malling Research – the Kent home of the national apple collection.

The award came as a total surprise to Liz. “I was completely bowled over. I had no idea. It was a very well kept secret!”

Growers’ Day, on Friday 1 June, was well attended and packed with interesting presentations, including Emily Durrant talking about HONE, John Thatcher on

Orchards of the Future and an Open Meeting of Orchards South West as well as visits from MP Ian Liddell-Grainger and MEP Julie Girling.

Orchard Pig picked up a First prize for its sparkling Apple Rambler juice, one from the new drinks range from Orchard Pig.

Royal Bath and West Society Show

30 May - 2 June are the dates for this year’s Royal Bath and West Society Show at the Shepton Mallet Showground.  

Do please come and say hello - you will find us at our stand in the Orchards and Cider Tent.

There have been more entries this year than ever for the Cider classes, making the B and W the biggest cider competition in the world.

Friday 1 June is Growers Day, with lots of special events aimed at orchard owners.  This is well worth attending and a great opportunity to listen to some fantastic experts and to meet other growers.

Apple Blossom Day at Orchard Pig

Andrew Quinlan & Neil Macdonald

Sunday 29 April will be a big celebration at West Bradley Orchards as Orchard Pig hosts its regular Apple Blossom Day.

Cider, apple juice, hog roast, games and music are on the schedule from 11.00 - 6.00 and the trees in full blossom are a gift from nature at this time of year.

It’s a great opportunity for Orchard Pig to celebrate its Somerset roots at the start of summer, and to introduce everyone to its new lines and stunning new look. 

With the trees looking their best we will be delighted to welcome everyone for orchard tours, with specialists on hand to answer questions.
  

For the sporty there will be welly throwing, apple and spoon races and a special Tug o’ War, and for the less sporty lots of ice cream, Orchard Pig cider and apple juice.

Bees and honey from Somerton Beekeepers, small animals and birds from Secret World and the famous Orchard Piglets will be fun for the family, and all day music will make a mellow setting until the sun goes down.

We look forward to seeing all our friends at West Bradley on 29 April - do come and meet us!

SWECA visits West Bradley

On 1 March a party of SWECA members ( South West of England Cidermakers Association) visited West Bradley Orchards.
  

The tour was guided by Neil Macdonald from Orchard Pig Ground Force and Edward Clifton-Brown, owner of West Bradley Orchards.  Robert Fouvargue, Agronomist with Pearce Seeds, was also on hand to answer questions.

Neil Macdonald said “ We were very pleased that such a large number of SWECA members came to visit us.  We have been growing dessert apples on a wire system for some time and we wanted to share our thoughts on how this system could be adapted to grow cider fruit.”

John Thatcher, from Thatcher’s Cider, has been growing cider apples on a similar system for some time and was very enthusiastic and encouraging. 

“It is the way forward, of that I have no doubt” he said.

5 Top Tips for Planting Apple Trees

We are coming into the main planting season now.  Here are some things to be thinking about.

1 Soil condition is vital. If your soil is not friable and you are smearing the sides of the hole the tiny root hairs cannot break through the solid barrier.  Leave it to another day.

2 Soak the tree overnight and keep the roots covered before you plant. Do not let it dry out in the wind.

3 Put in the stake; dig the hole; plant the tree as you go.

4 Planting depth is critical, make sure you are not planting too deeply.

5 Guard the tree immediately.  Rabbits can be very quick off the mark.

Pruning workshops

Our pruning workshop season has got off to a great start.

Saturday 21 January found us in Marlborough with an audience of 70. Everyone was very knowledgeable and extremely enthusiastic and the questions came thick and fast.

We were privileged to be invited into the orchards at Marlborough College to demonstrate pruning techniques on old trees and also into the grounds of Waitrose where we were able to show how to prune an espaliered apple tree.

Many thanks go to Philippa Davenport and her team for organising a very successful and enjoyable day. 

Wiltshire seems to be having great success with both its local food projects and its community orchards, which is good to know.  

Our workshops here in Somerset at West Bradley are filling up fast but we can still squeeze a few more in, so do get in touch if you are interested.  Dates are 9 & 23 Feb and 3 March.