NACM/Bulmer’s Open Orcharding Day 12 July

The immaculate surroundings of Bulmer’s Hockhams Farm at Martley, Worcestershire were the location for this year’s Open Orchard Day, sponsored by the NACM.

Over 200 growers were invited to the 540 acre site, as well as suppliers of equipment and machinery to the industry. 

Chris Fairs, Growers’ Advisory Manager, led a walking tour around the orchards during which guest speakers made short presentations at designated stops.  

Topics included a summary of new varieties planted at Hockhams, removing fruit from young tree leaders to maintain shape, summer pruning techniques and the use of gypsum in orchards. 

The machinery on show introduced growers to equipment designed to improve growing and harvesting techniques and everyone was treated to a picnic lunch accompanied by cider.

Neil Macdonald from Orchard Groundforce said “This is an essential event for growers.  It’s a great opportunity to network and to find out the latest thinking in the industry.  We came away with a lot of food for thought.”

One of the topics we found most interesting was that on summer pruning.  Chris Fairs gave a presentation on summer pruning in Fiona and Gilly trees, two of the new varieties planted at Hockhams Farm.

With 450 acres planted at the farm, producing 10% of the total Bulmer’s crop, some of the trees just do not get pruned in the winter, plus the fact that they grow so fast they sometimes need to be pruned twice.

Hereford soils are richer than ours here in Somerset, nevertheless this year we have seen some fantastic extension growth on our young trees.

On the whole we still feel that we are talking about winter pruning and summer shaping.  What you prune in summer is not going to regrow. What you prune in the winter is structural and is going to encourage new growth in the spring. But if you need to cut off the end of a branch - not recommended in the winter - you can do that in the summer because the sap has stopped rising.

And if you have only one or two trees in your garden, cider or dessert, and you have a branch that consistently gets in your way when you are mowing the lawn then June is a good time to get rid of it. 

Apple pomace

When we press the apples we end up with delicious juice and a whole lot of bits - pips, apple skins, bits of the core.  It turns out there are lots of things to be done with it to use up all the remaining goodness and encourage sustainability.

Robert Snook farms a suckler herd of Hereford beef cattle near Castle Cary, Somerset.  His wife, Sally, also runs a Bed & Breakfast business http://www.clanvillemanor.co.uk/ from their beautiful Georgian farmhouse in which she serves Orchard Pig apple juice.

This winter the farm will also be serving Orchard Ground Force apple pomace to guests, but the guests will have four legs instead of two!

Robert explains “In mid July this year, when there had been so little rain, we knew that the price of food for our cattle was going to go up.  We had no silage, no grass to cut for the second or third cut, and when someone mentioned that Orchard Ground Force had apple pomace we thought we would consider it.  It’s not that unusual - plenty of people have used it - but it was new for us.”

The pomace is rich in vitamins and roughage.  Robert stores it in a big heap in the yard.

“There’s a heat element in the pomace so most of the time we don’t cover it, because we don’t want it to break down and ferment.  But we also don’t want it too dry because the cattle don’t like it if it’s too dry.  We don’t have a roof for it, which would make it simpler, so we are just covering it with plastic sheeting when it rains a lot.”

“It’s basically carbohydrate and we balance it with a protein based product.  The cows really like it - you’d probably like it too, it smells lovely!  They push each other about to get to it and it means the grass lasts longer so they can stay outside longer.”

There is no doubt that the cows and calves consider the pomace a gourmet delight - even Robert’s beautiful Limousin bull Adam couldn’t wait to get at it.

Apple pomace is also on the menu for the Gloucester Old Spots that give Orchard Pig its name, and experiments are taking place with feeding it to the game birds on a local shoot.  The pips encourage the natural scratching behaviour of the birds.

Back at West Bradley Orchards the pomace is mixed with woodchips from the apple tree prunings and basalt dust is added - a waste product from a local quarry.  The basalt dust contains essential minerals and has long been used in Australia in the wine industry to retain moisture in the soil.  The mixture is composted for at least six weeks and then used as a mulch around the base of the new trees later in the year.

Apple Scrumping Day 2

It was a beautiful sunny day and we had an overflowing car park by 11.00 in the morning.  Everyone worked flat out all day chopping and squishing and pressing to turn the apples people picked in the orchard into juice to take home.  Huge thanks are due to Camilla and Amanda from Vigo who brought along one of their fruit presses and a big yellow muncher cruncher to chop up the fruit.  
Anyone who has more fruit than they can eat should certainly think about turning it into juice and a small Vigo press would really come in handy.  See www.vigopresses.co.uk or telephone 01404 892101.
We had such a lot of fun and the general public worked hard too, lots of dads and kids taking turns at the presses.  Thanks to Jasmine for the bacon butties, and to Fergus (not quite 7) who was her right hand man.

We're definitely up for it again next year.

Apple Scrumping Day

We’re doing something new on Sunday 12 September.  We’ll be offering to turn the apples people pick at the PYO into juice, bottle it and even give the bottles personalised labels.


Vigo, who provide us with equipment, are coming along to help and bringing some extra kit.  We’ll be chopping up the apples, pressing them for juice and pasteurising the bottles so the juice keeps.  So much easier than storing the apples for winter in the attic, and so much more fun to be able to offer your guests your own juice!


People can even make up their own blends from the fruit in the orchard - we have fifteen different kinds of apple to choose from and four different varieties of pear.


The sun is supposed to shine, and we’ll have a barbeque for hungry customers.


We look forward to seeing you all - West Bradley Orchards, 10.00 - 5.00 Sunday 12 September.

First PYO weekend of 2010 a success

Lots of people came to West Bradley for the first weekend this year of Pick Your Own.  The weather stayed sunny - more or less - and the fruit is looking really good.  People were filling wheelbarrows with apples and pears.  Many were intending to store the fruit until needed, and some said that their eyes were just bigger than their brains!  It is wonderful to see a whole orchard bursting with ripe fruit, each one a beauty.


Pick Your Own will continue on each weekend throughout September. All apples and pears are £1.10 per kilo. 


The harvest begins next week with our own pickers coming in during the week, and then it's absolutely full-on until Christmas.