We spent several hours in the garden yesterday collecting apples, pears and tomatoes from the orchard. We planted the orchard in 2015 in what was an inhospitable windblown paddock, and it has been satisfying to see it develop into a fully self-sustaining source of food.
I subsequently planted a Shrubby Honeysuckle Lonicera nitida hedge to buffer the winds, as wind exposure for fruit-laden trees is a recipe for snapped branches and split trunks. We've avoided pesticides and the orchard is as organic as is possible given the provenance of the land - it was probably overloaded with high levels of phosphates thanks to the agribusiness that used to own it.
The unseasonably early onset of summer this year has seen protracted dry spells and under irrigation (coupled with my organic biochemistry fertilisation endeavours with seaweed) the fruit trees have thrived. We have a defiant Greengage tree though, and despite being established and now a mature tree, it has never borne fruit.
The Guardian featured an article a couple of days ago reflecting on the impact of the summer weather on fruit production:
The record-breaking summer temperatures this year that contributed to the abundance of apples was made about 70 times more likely because of human-induced climate change, the Met Office concluded in an analysis published earlier this month. The mean temperature across June, July and August was 16.1C (70F), significantly above the current record of 15.8C set in 2018, with the country also seeing four heatwaves across a single season.
While we have a Crab Apple (John Downie), a Cherry Tree, Greengage, Conference Pear and a Damson, the main focus of the orchard has always been the apple trees which do well in clay. If you're thinking of growing apple trees, the following are what are in our orchard and have been very successful.
This selection provides a good ripening and harvest window as well as offering a variety of flavours. It also supplements the more common varieties that can be found in supermarkets. A good supplier of the trees listed below is Ian Sturrock
Tydeman's Early Worcester
Harvest window, late August - September. Very early dessert apple, has a short shelf life and only keeps for a few weeks.
Afal Piug Aderyn
Harvest window, late September - Mid October. It's a mid-season Welsh variety - fresh use in Sept-Oct but also good for cider apparently.
Ashmead's Kernel
Harvest window is early to late October. Eating is best after storage - December - February.
Orleans Reinette
Harvest window is from mid October and is a late dessert or dual purpose apple.
Sturmer Pippin
Harvest window is late October - November. It's very late ripening, eating is best from Jan - Apr after storage.
The tomatoes have also been incredibly good this year, we're growing Gardener's Delight (Solanum lycopersicum) - a popular and easy to grow cherry tomato which has a lovely sweetness and works in pasta and pizza sauces as well as salads. Normally I would use tins of San Marzano DOP for Italian sauces but it's very hard to beat the flavour of fresh homegrown tomatoes. Hopefully a couple of warm days will materialise and allow the balance of the crop to ripen.
