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Blossomtime in Putley with The Big Apple Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May 2018

Putley is preparing for the annual celebration of its orchards, which this year will take place on Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May. Blossomtime in Putley is centred on a cider tasting in the village hall, based on entries from the Big Apple Cider and Perry Trials with over 150 ciders and perries available to taste – including our highest ever number of dry ciders.

Together with its surrounding parishes, Putley is famous for its orchards, and the mix of dessert and cider fruit means that there will be blossom somewhere at this time of year. Visitors can walk through the orchards, taste the ciders, enjoy a home-made lunch or tea – and discover for themselves why orchards are special places and apples matter to us all. On Monday morning, the Skittery family will welcome visitors to see how Jus, their award winning single variety apple juice, is made at Birchall Farm in Aylton. Continue reading “Blossomtime in Putley with The Big Apple Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May 2018”

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Photographic Exhibition – “A Fruit Farming Year: Nature and Nurture” May 26 – June 9

Wildflowers in the orchards at Castle Fruit Farm by Pat Strauss

Ledbury Food Group’s eagerly awaited photographic exhibition “A Fruit Farming Year: Nature and Nurture”, featuring photos by local photographer Pat Strauss, will be on display from 26 May – 9 June in the Panelled Room of the Master’s House.

Ledbury Food Group arranged for Pat to visited the family-run modern commercial orchards of Castle Fruit Farm throughout one farming year. Expecting perhaps a simple cycle of planting, growing and picking, we discover instead a myriad of diverse but interconnected activities. In winter, when the countryside appears dormant, we see workers juggling the weather to plant and protect young trees, alongside bird netting and counting, and putting up nesting boxes. Migrating birds are orchard “workers” too, clearing pests and cleaning up unharvested fruit.

Continue reading “Photographic Exhibition – “A Fruit Farming Year: Nature and Nurture” May 26 – June 9″

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So Harvest is Over …

Cider apple tree shaking by Pat Strauss

So harvest is over ! Our Summer family of pickers are mostly homeward bound after a very busy and lucrative time here. They go home to their communities hoping for good snow as many of them work in the ski business in the winter. They were a good crew and we hope we will see most of them next year. Continue reading “So Harvest is Over …”

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Harvest is starting at Castle Fruit Farm. The Team arrives !

Castle Fruit Farm: Mira, Krassi and Eva

The year is flying by! I am going to introduce you to our team. The weather, the pollinators, the condition of the trees are all important but above all it is our team that brings the orchards literally to fruition with great quality fruits which keeps us an economic thriving fruit farm. Continue reading “Harvest is starting at Castle Fruit Farm. The Team arrives !”

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Walk this way to find Ledbury’s food producers…

Drop any line on a map of the countryside around Ledbury and you are likely to cut through a number of different farms, each with their own way of working the land and with their own portfolio of produce. That’s just what Ledbury Food Group did last month – only we walked the line, met some of the farmers and enjoyed some of the produce! Continue reading “Walk this way to find Ledbury’s food producers…”