This month…
I always like to have an outdoor project on the go and this year I’ve landed a particularly interesting one: we’re planting an orchard in place of a small copse that sits at the side of our house. When we moved to our new home on the Cambridgeshire/bedfordshire border about a year ago, I thought we should leave this magical little wooded area of the garden alone. I loved the idea of my own wild wood to escape to. I imagined creating a clearing where we’d gather with family and friends around a firepit, wrapped in blankets and sipping hot chocolate. However, closer inspection of the trees revealed a tangle of rotten trunks and spindly self-seeders, all with the potential to topple over in the autumn gales. A rethink was required – and who better to advise me than The Good Life columnist Sally Coulthard? Sally has her own little orchard on her Yorkshire smallholding (see page 25), and after a conversation with her, my dream of a fairytale woodland had morphed into a bountiful fruit grove!
As I began clearing the ground in preparation, Sally was full of helpful tips: “Plan to have as much year-round fruit as possible – some apple varieties are still good in December,” she said. Who knew we could be enjoying our own apples at Christmas? “Plant with pollination in mind,” she added. “While some fruit trees can self-fertilise, plenty can’t and you’ll need to plant a compatible variety close by.” She also suggested I get advice from my neighbours. It turns out that fruit is much better grown with local soil and climate in mind. This last tip proved to be an excellent one. More research revealed that Cambridgeshire (as many of you will know) has some fabulous heritage varieties, bred for the geography, weather and the extensive fruit farms that have dominated the county over the years. My plans are definitely taking root – though I still have to agree with my husband whether we have cider or eating apples…
I’ll keep you posted as I continue with my project. In the meantime, you can enjoy more about our great legacy of orchards in two of my favourite seasonal features this month: British to the Core, an ode to our overlooked native apple varieties (page 92), and The Chattering Acorn Gatherer (page 124), which celebrates the extraordinary bird that has become the orchard’s master forester. Elsewhere, we spotlight another fabled creature of the woodland: the iconic red squirrel (page 82). We even have a selection of makes inspired by the fruits and foliage of the mighty oak tree (page 112). So, wherever you are this autumn, I hope you enjoy our tribute to the season of mellow fruitfulness.
Vesper Flights