I'm often asked which fruit trees have done well in our Community Orchard and I can never remember. This year I've photographed the fruit to show the trees that have produced the best crops.
Bloody Ploughman, dessert apple
This is an old variety originating in 1883 in Carse of Gowrie in Scotland. It is said to have received its name from a ploughman who was caught stealing apples on the Megginch estate and was shot by the gamekeeper. His wife received the bag of apples and threw them on the compost heap, where a seedling then grew and was given its name.
We have two Bloody Ploughman trees in the orchard and both have produced fruit this year.
Bramely’s Seedling
This well-known cooking apple is an old variety, originating In 1809 from Nottinghamshire. It was raised between 1809 and 1813 by Miss Mary Anne Brailsford and planted in her garden at Church Street, Southwell, Nottingham. Her cottage, along with the tree, passed to a Mr Bramley a local butcher, and Henry Merryweather offered the tree for sale.
Issac Newton Tree, culinary apple
This is a very old apple tree originating from Lincolnshire in 1629. It is believed to be a descendant of the tree that inspired Isaac Newton in 1665 when the ‘notion of gravitation came to mind’ after watching an apple fall. Cuttings were taken from the tree in Isaac Newton's garden in Lincolnshire. The apple is the extremely rare variety ‘Flower of Kent’ which was first mentioned in the fifteenth century.
The tree is supposed to produce a distinctly ugly cooking apple…. but our apple doesn’t seem to match the description. It was the first tree we planted in the orchard, so there was no chance of muddling the names up. We’re not convinced it’s the right tree!
Fiesta, dessert apple.
This is a modern variety originating in Kent in 1972. It’s a cross between Cox;s and Idared. The orchard tree has produced an excellent crop this year.
The Fiesta tree
Red Windsor, dessert apple.
This apple tree was sponsored by my dad and obviously a good choice because it’s produced an excellent crop of small red apples. It’s a modern variety bred in Kent in 1985 and recommended for growing in the north
Red Windsor
Kerry Pippin, dessert apple.
This variety originated in 1802 in Kilkenny, Ireland. It is the second year this tree has produced a good crop of small golden yellow fruit in the Community Orchard. It is sponsored by my sister-in-law, Sarah Burn, in memory of her Irish husband.
Katy, dessert apple
This is another 20th century variety originating in Sweden in 1947 from a cross between James Grieve and Worcester Pearmain. Ours is only a small tree but it’s got a good crop of several bright red small apples.
Keswick Codling, dual purpose apple.
An old variety originated in Cumbria in 1793. The tree hasn’t produced much fruit but they are big apples.
Sunset, dessert apple
This community orchard apple tree has compact growth and quite a few apples. It originated in Kent in 1918 and is recommended for growing in the North
Lord Lambourne, dessert apple.
This apple was raised in Bedfordshire in 1907. It’s forming a reasonable sized tree but hasn’t cropped very heavily.
Hessle, dessert pear
This is the only pear that has grown in our orchard this year :( It’s a very old variety from Hessle in East Yorkshire where it is known locally as the Hazel pear and is described as one that will grow just about anywhere!
Hessle
The birdsfoot trefoil has been beautiful in the orchard grass
Tom cutting the grass - some very careful maneuvering was necessary!
Looking across the fields to Hunting Hall and beyond to the sea. The poplars in the foreground were plated with our holiday cottage guests' carbon offsets to provide a windbreak along the side of the orchard.
