Sunday 30 May 2010

Open Farm Sunday 13 June



Come and meet us!
We are going to be opening the orchards as part of Open Farm Sunday on 13 June 2010.
Open Farm Sunday is an annual event that gives everyone the opportunity to meet the people who grow their food and care for the countryside. Organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), it takes place across the country on one Sunday in June.
Come and tour our orchards, find out about how we grow our fruit and how we make it into award winning apple juice and cider.
We'll be open from 10.00 - 4.00 and we very much look forward to meeting you!

Wednesday 26 May 2010

The Kingfisher Award scheme





The Kingfisher Award Scheme (KAS) has been involving Primary Schools in their local environment since it was first launched in Devon at the instigation of the late poet laureate Ted Hughes and friends in 1992.  The Somerset project is run by Michael Brown and his wife Utta.


The objective is to provide children with an opportunity to go onto farms to explore the natural world and and discover the relationship between food, farming and wildlife.


Children come with their entire class for one session in early June. This year the sessions will be held at the National Trust's Barrington Court property from Tuesday 4 June to Friday 11 June. The children explore a variety of topics on the subject of orchards and wildlife and then return to their schools to create a project over the following weeks.


Neil Macdonald from Orchard Groundforce will be a tutor on the sessions this year, helping children to build high rise skyscrapers for insects such as beetles and bees, like the one above.


In July a grand final and picnic takes place and the projects are judged, with a prize being awarded to the winning class.


Michael Brown is one of the founders of the Brown & Forrest smokery near Langport, and is seen here with Neil Macdonald inspecting a graft on a tree in the orchard at West Bradley.