Fruitfields Apple Juice is now available!

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We have had fun this autumn producing c. 150 litres of juice from a few different varieties including Redditch Doddin, Worcester Pearmain, Sandlin Duchess and Red Devil. Our trees are young and the amount of juice is on an exponential curve so we are expecting at least triple the amount next year…

In order to scale up our position earlier and start our local business ‘Fruitfields’ we have picked just over 2 tonnes of apples from a local orchard in Barnt Green with the help of the Girl Guides and it is now available for sale. Using the facilities at Tardebigge Cider, Tutnall and the huge experience of the owner Steve Cooper, we have produced over 1,500 750 ml bottles of lovely tasting apple juice. It has been a learning curve, with us understanding the logistics of moving c.130 15kg bags of apples through the washing/milling & pulping/cheese pressing/bottling and pasteurising process (before storing & distributing!).

We are delighted to confirm that our Fruitfields Apple Juice is now available for sale at:

Blackwell Convenience Store, Blackwell, B60 1BL

Fresh @Burcot Garden Centre, Burcot, B60 1PW

Warwick’s Butchers, Barnt Green, B45 8NL

Alpaca Park Farm, Snarestone, DE12 7DB

& we are in talks with a few other local establishments…

We have also attended our first shows and have a few more planned. We loved being involved with Barnt Green Fireworks & the Bromsgrove Christmas Lights Switch on & are attending the following events over the next couple of months:

November 22nd   Blackwell School Craft & Local Producer Fair

November 24th    Parkside Centre, Bromsgrove Craft Fair

December 7th       St Andrews School, Barnt Green School Fair

December 8th       King’s Norton Farmer’s Market, King’s Norton

December 15th     Parkside Centre, Bromsgrove Craft Fair

December 27th     The 2nd Barnt Green Wassail at our orchards off Bittel Farm Road

Please do like & follow us on facebook or look us up on Instagram and if you ever fancy a bottle of fresh local apple juice then please do visit one of our stockists or come along to one of the events above. All of the above would not have been possible without the help of numerous family members and close friends. You know who you are, thanks for making our journey possible!

Autumnal Apple & Honey Harvesting

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We’re delighted to have produced some delicious honey. Ok we’re biased but it’s award winning with a first at a Mid-Wales show for our liquid honey, and a third for our set honey in North Worcestershire. All our followers and Fruitfields community are so supportive. If you want any honey and live in the South Birmingham/North Worcestershire area, please let us know.

We have started taking apple windfalls from the Redditch Doddins/Pitmaston Pineapples/Worcester Pearmains/Red Windsors and Red Devils and are processing apple juice. We’ve had the offer of over 2 tonnes of apples from an orchard locally. All being well, we’ll have the apples processed and juice bottled by the end of October and then we’ll let you know when and where we’re selling through to the end of the year.

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Wow, what a summer!

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The trees and fruit bushes are now looking for some rain which no doubt will be upon us imminently. What a summer we’ve had! From the end of May to the start of July the heat wave has given us a such a glorious long dry spell. All the hay has been cut in surrounding fields, and the apple fruit is coming on and thinking about growing and starting to ripen.

Due to the timing of the blossom this year we’ve had no pears, but so far a bumper crop of raspberries and redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries. The raspberry jam has been delicious and our bees are excited by this long dry spell so we’re crossing fingers for a strong honey harvest.

The bees are now pollinating the blackberry and broad bean flowers in nearby fields, and there is the promise of some plums and apricots.

Despite the long dry spell, the growth of the willow each year staggers me and we’ll cut it as usual later in the year once the shoots have shed their leaves.

Our apple trees are starting to put growth into their side lateral branches having pruned their top shoots during the winter period and now our pruning has meant the growth in the trees is impressive. Our five year old fruit trees may produce a crop!

Spring has sprung & the blossom is fun!

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Ok, we’re never going to make proper poets, but we’re tickled with excitement at this time of year with the blossom appearing. There’s the prospect of a crop to look forward to subject to the flowers being pollinated and no heavy frosts…

All of the early fruiting trees such as cherries and pears are blossoming, including the early apple varieties of James Grieve and Red Windsor. We’re now onto the mid-season apple varieties blossoming such as Worcester Pearmain and Red Devil. Our cookers such as Bramley & Edward VII are later, as are the cider trees and other late sweet varieties like Ashmead’s Kernel and William Crump. 

Pollinators such as solitary bees, bumbles and honey bees as well as our natural predators (keep the aphid population down please Mr Ladybird) all appear hard at work!

 

Pruning espaliers

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It’s April 1st and the cold continues. We’re still pruning and it’s been espaliers today. Our pruning will bring on the fruit buds and the strong lateral horizontal branches growing along the existing trellis.

Take the scene of three apple trees in a line trying to grow outwards and up to the sky. The idea is to train them along your wires or bamboo trellis (or whatever material you are using). By removing this years top shoots and outward growth this encourages growth along the supports and more fruit buds within that growth. 

Espaliers are therefore fantastic trees for borders and boundaries and alongside paths. Where space is limited they can be incorporated efficiently and at stately homes in the kitchen gardens, you will normally see a line of espaliers in front of a brick wall providing a sun trap for early ripening fruit, and natural protection against frosts, as well as being sheltered from wind.

Despite it being overcast in the pictures below, hopefully you can see the general idea of removing unwanted growth by pruning using standard secateurs. In the spring with the sap rising, nutrients from the rootstock will flood the remaining fruit buds and branches, encouraging growth in the direction of the supports.

What crazy weather & a quick check on my starving bees (despite trying to feed them)

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Ok we’ve had snow and sledged and snow and sledged and yes more snow and sledged. It was fun the first couple of times. We’d prefer it if there was not a Beast from the East 3 and my bees, the only colony that has survived (colony 2 succumbed to starvation last week despite candy and fondant feeding) is needing a warm spring now and for the flowers to come out, please!

So it was important today to see if there were any stores in the remaining hive and it’s confirmed that the bees are on a knife edge and the candy is essential. Also essential is the local forage including early cherry blossom and willow catkins.

I had an accomplice today which meant some great bee frame close ups could be taken which clearly show the different stages of bee development from upright matchstick eggs in cells (up to day 3) to curly pearly white larvae, to sealed brood waiting to hatch. You can see bees with the yellow pollen on their back legs in their ‘paniers’ to feed to the young brood for their development.

 

Pruning Talk at local garden centre and pruning of 60 year old village apple trees

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Well the UK is properly snowed in currently! Traffic chaos, gale force winds and boilers breaking down seem to be the order of the day. We’ve had some wonderful opportunities at Fruitfields to share our Worcestershire apple juice story.

Firstly, to 60 south Birmingham allotment holders at Fresh Burcot Garden Centre. Our pruning talk appeared to muster a good amount of interest and provided the basics on pruning for growth and health in your trees and pruning for vigour and fruit.

We were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to engage with Fresh at Burcot. It’s a huge thankyou to the Burcot Garden centre team for having us and we look forward to engaging with them later in the year to demonstrate some Worcestershire apple juice processing and pressing and sampling!

Today, the 2nd March, 2018 we’ve been pruning 60 year old apple trees in the neighbouring village. This was a fantastic opportunity to carry out some restorative pruning. It’s very important that we don’t kill off the tree by the strength of our pruning. So with that in mind, we removed all the water shoots, obvious crossing branches and upright shooting spurs at the canopy level which was too high. This will bring on growth lower down, and particularly on the existing lateral branches showing strong fruiting buds.

Winter Tree Planting & Ongoing Pruning

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We were pleased to plant two new rows of ‘Red Devil’ apple trees today. We also planted some replacement Egremont Russets, Bramleys, William Crumps and Tickled Pinks.

The Red Devil apples have a pink flesh all the way through them and produce a lovely tasting pink apple juice.

The trees were from Frank Matthews nursery in the beautiful Teme Valley just outside of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire and had really good looking healthy roots. We’ve planted them as maidens (first year trees) and they’re on MM106 root stock. Subject to our pruning, they would naturally grow to 3-4m high and similar width.

Having help from family and friends meant the planting only took a couple of hours. There was time for pruning of the Ashmead Kernels (early 18th century Gloucestershire dessert apple) and all of the Gladstone apples (dating back to the 1780s but reintroduced in 1868 by Blakedown nursery, near Kidderminster as Jackson’s Seedling and renamed Gladstone in 1883).

 

Book review & chill time pruning

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I’ve had fun pruning time this morning but it was cold and I felt like a ‘chill unit’ by the time I had finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve just read Pete Brown’s ‘The Apple Orchard’ and this is a cracker of a book & not just because I received it as a Santa present! I would heartily recommend this novel. It takes you through the journey of the apple and to current apple orchards. It discusses the magic of the apple, the images it conjures up. The mystique surrounding this celebrated fruit and a few of the festivals associated with it during the annual cycle.

Pete doesn’t love morris dancers. Being a morris dancer, some of the comments made me chuckle. By the end of the book he has learnt to put up with morris dancers, as generally wherever there is an apple festival, morris men (& ladies) are not that far away! Thanks for putting up with us…

Say hello to The Apple Orchard

So turning to ‘chill units’. The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale & the East Malling Research Centre (both in Kent) describe that for an apple tree to reach proper dormancy it needs at least 1000 ‘chill units’ A chill unit being an hour below 7 degrees. If this is achieved then the apple tree has properly rested and the likelihood of a good crop much increased. With global warming we’ll see if the regularity of a good crop is reduced as dormancy is likely to be achieved less and less.

As our trees are still young (the oldest are coming into their sixth season) we are pruning for growth. This means we’re removing a good amount of wood. We’re creating the ideal wine glass/goblet shape and ensuring that no branches are touching or crossing, that no shoots are growing inwardly towards the centre of the tree, and that we’re encouraging as much growth as possible. 

Later on in the year we’ll look at light summer pruning, between the end of July and the start of September to encourage more fruit buds in

 

Wassailing and our Fruitfields Wassail on the 27th December, 2017

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To Wassail or ‘Was-hail’ is the middle English for ‘good-health’ and at fruitfields we’ve been delighted to work with Barnt Green Parish Council to combine their annual winter community walks with a Wassail at fruitfields.

Over sixty intrepid adventurers braved the near freezing and windy conditions on the afternoon of December 27th, 2017 and we were thankful that it was dry.

Despite the wind blowing the gas double burner out, the fire pit saved the day and the pre-warmed mulled cider provided a good alternative to the mulled hot apple juice.

We wished the trees good health to provide a bumper crop of apples in 2018 and to thank them for the 2017 crop. We banged pots and pans to awaken the orchard and ensure any nasty bugs were driven away. Everyone made a good amount of noise following Ges our drummer to hang toast at the bottom of the orchard in the oldest trees.

Toast is traditionally hung to thank the trees for the fruit they have provided, and attract birds to dispatch any nasty bugs.

Fruitfields in the snow at sunset!

Hanging toast in the trees to encourage a good crop and remove any nasty bugs!

Robert & Simon doing a sterling job with the banners and as walk leaders.

Walkers warming up aroud the firepit with glasses of mulled cider and apple juice

Walkers warming up aroud the firepit with glasses of mulled cider and apple juice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drunk and sung to the health of the apple trees and this included the following wassail verses:

Here’s to thee, old apple tree,
That blooms well, bears well.
Hats full, caps full.
Three bushel bags full,
An’ all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!

Here’s to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,
And whence thou mayst bear apples enough,
Hats full, caps full,
Bushel, bushel sacks-full.
And my pockets full, too! Hurrah!

Wassail! Wassail! All over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we’ll drink unto thee.

Wassaile the trees, that they may beare
You many a Plum and many a Peare:
For more or lesse fruits they will bring
As you do give them Wassailing.
Apple tree prosper, bud, bloom and bear,
That we may have plenty of cider next year.
And when there’s a barrel, we hope there are ten,
That we may have cider when we come again.

Chorus:
With our wassail, wassail, wassail!
Joy come to our jolly wassail!

A-wassail, a-wassail! The Moon, she shines down;
The apples are ripe and the nuts they are brown.
Whence thou mayest bud, dear old apple tree,
And when thou mayest bear, we sing unto thee,

Chorus:
With our wassail, wassail, wassail!
Joy come to our jolly wassail!

Love and joy come to you
And to you your wassail, too
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year and God send you a
Happy New Year!