For Apple Day: Eat your way to the river
It's Apple Day, one of my favourite days of the year and what better way to celebrate than to tell you about my recent trip to Longney, where Gloucestershire Orchard Trust have 18 acres of apple orchard under their tender care. Here you'll find older orchards with some trees well over a century old, plus their newer plantings of around 94 Gloucestershire cultivars which have just acquired national plant collection status at Plant Heritage . The jury's out on the actual number as DNA testing has revealed at least one locally named variety is actually a more well known one: Ribston Pippin in this case. Don't worry, there are dozens there which definitely have their origins rooted firmly in Gloucestershire and their cultivation at Longney is vital to their continued presence and preservation. There were around 200 local varieties at one time and today it's around 100 still in existence. Steve Mason - the Trust's Curator - was our knowledgeable guide who invited ...
Seeing that arch in the first photo has got thinking that I might get one for the yellow climbing rose I'd like on the plot.
ReplyDeleteHi Flighty - I use mine for growing sweet peas. Don't make the same mistake as I did though - this was a very cheap arch from Wilkinson's. They rot very quickly...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning! Maybe I'll get my woodworking son to build something for me.
ReplyDeletecool shots
ReplyDeleteHi Dragonstar - glad to be of help! I like the idea of your son's bespoke work though. I'm hoping to persuade NAH to do something similar to replace the broken arches on the plot, in particular the 1 I used for my vines!
ReplyDeleteHi KMF - thanks for the compliment! I'm posting these every couple of weeks or so, so that I have a 'time lapse' garden and plot. I think it'll also help me plan some changes as I'll be able to see what's not working and when.