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Was this North Cumbria's best attended grafting workshop? It's certainly possible, with 150 rootstocks being grafted onto scions to form new trees, swelling the numbers in existing orchards or making something brand new.

A contingent from Cumbria Wildlife trust also attended, in recognition of the invaluable and biodiverse wildlife habitats traditional orchards form. Amongst the most popular varieties of the day were the widely commercially grown Katy and the versatile and hardy Scotch Bridget.

Hilary demonstrated grafting with her usual quiet aplomb, and she, Mark and Chris (ably assisted by Mark Shipperlee) were constantly on their feet offering welcome advice and technical assistance. The morning session was all systems go, with a steady stream of members leaving with entire orchards in bags. Both practical demonstrations were clear and easy to follow, even for those with less experience, and after so much hard work and concentration, refuelling with coffee and cake was most welcome. Sara took charge of the kitchen whilst Alison kept careful tabs on everyone's rootstocks, assistance without which the event would not have been possible. We were fortunate too to have the use of Thursby Parish hall, an excellent venue for ensuring multiple people could safely and comfortably carry out refined knife work. Events such as these ensure skills such as whip and tongue grafting remain current, and traditional orchards can live on amongst north Cumbria's challenging weather.

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Ideal weather, great food and the orchard near Cockermouth with some impressive old apple trees was left looking both happy and healthy. The tripod ladders came out, so did the sun and an impressive array of cakes. Hot soup and mulled cider was particularly appreciated by the record number of guests in attendance at a pruning event. Richard Goodwin of Low Yard Barn orchard explained that his garden had always proved a challenging site for apple trees owing to orientation, position of hedges and vulnerability to wind. The previous apple crop has been described as 'modest but useable'. The general feeling once NCOG's more seasoned and trainee pruners had departed was that the Discovery and Irish Peach trees shown stood a greater chance of channelling their energy into productive growth, as a result of all the care and attention they had received. The images include before and after photographs of the trees, which had their main limbs tidied and the tangled froth of water shoots mostly removed. Low Yard Barn was an ideal site for those wishing to learn more about pruning techniques.

(For reference, the pictures of Irish Peach show a treehouse and polytunnel in the background, whilst the others are Discovery)

The soup was much admired amongst visitors, and just what the doctor ordered on a crisp winter's day. Richard has kindly supplied the soup recipe below:

2oz dry red lentils washed (50g)

Dried Apricots 2oz (50g)

1 large potato peeled or v well scrubbed - chopped smallish cubes

2pts (1.2l) Vegetable Stock

Juice 1/2 lemon

1 tsp ground cumin

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Mix all - bring to boil - simmer 30 mins. Allow to cool if wanted and liquidise.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat as needed. If using a hand blender stick could be liquidised hot. With lid on keeps ok overnight in a cool larder but can be quickly made on the day

Note - I chose to add the Parsley AFTER simmering - still cooks enough in hot soup while cooling.

Brighter colour and more flavour.

This soup description, amongst other things, caused the website news editor to greatly regret her absence from the event described.

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Tradtional orchards in Britain are defined as a collection of five or more trees which are non-intensively cared for and harvested. Another facet of a traditional orchard is that it is often put to multiple uses, for example, as permanant grassland or meadow, as the home of multiple crops and plants, or even as grazing land for animals. Yet this article discusses the consequences of an alarming reality: that since World War Two, this type of orchard has suffered a ninety percent decline. This in turn has led to decreased biodiversity and a rise in more intensive, less sustainable methods of apple growing.

In particular, Herefordshire cider and perry maker David Nash called for protective legislation, which could compel commerical cider makers to adhere to a minimum of 50% apple juice. The UK's biodioversity and range of insect species is in jeopardy when compared to other countries. Undoubtedly the conversion of traditional orchards into bushland or alternative crops has played a significant role in this decline. Whilst making orchards an irreplaceble habitat in the same way ancient woodlands are, or requiring an environmental impact assessment on conversion are not realistic, alternatives are here discussed. One of these is promoting, through marketing and cider tourism development, the rise of aritsan, high apple content cider. This could lead to a national change in juice content, resulting in a national change in perception as to how orchards are valued.

a link to the article here

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This year’s event was extremely well attended by members of all ages. Kate Roberts gave a surprising and illuminating talk about how the health of the earth feeds into all aspects of life. Most of us will take away a greater concept of which fruit and vegetables deplete soil and which can heal, rather than harm. Kate’s vast knowledge also encompassed how cultivating, planting and growing are a continued dialogue with the earth.

On the menu this year was artisan pizza, which kept on coming and coming thanks to the efforts of those involved and along with various imaginative salads and baked goods, it certainly did not disappoint.

The event was rounded off by NCOG’s annual cider competition, which was certainly a warm and pleasant note on which to head home. The well-deserved winner of 2024’s cider cup was Phil Royal, in whose absence Jon Nutley accepted the accolade. Another highly commended cider was that from Mosser, which was an altogether headier and drier flavour. Fortunately members’ palettes were sufficiently discerning not to promote the Asda’s own brand, brimming with sugar and fizz, beyond its modest desserts.

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Please see the attached file for the report.

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Please see the attached file for the report on this event.

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A group of enthusiastic members proved the saying "many hands make light work" today at the Sawmill orchard in Hutton in the Forest. Chris Braithwaite provided expert guidance on summer pruning and tying-in. A lot of weeds were removed, leaving the site looking much tidier, and the trees well cared for. Thanks to everyone who assisted.

The orchard continues to develop well. We have over 100 different varieties of apples, mostly growing as cordons. A number of these were more mature cordons moved from Newton Rigg when it closed: these are already full height and bearing fruit but had been rather neglected prior to their relocation to Sawmill and need corrective pruning. The other cordons are much younger and in the growing phase rather than fruit-bearing yet.

It was noted that there was a lot of scab present, particularly on the more mature trees. This seems to be a widespred problem this year with many of the members present reporting that their trees were also suffering.

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A dozen or so members gathered at the Sawmill Orchard in Hutton in the Forest on Sunday 26th May prior to the AGM at Hutton tearoom. The weeds had grown spectacularly and the group worked diligently to clear the growth around the trees. The weed mats along the cordons have done a good job restricting the weed growth but a lot of hand weeding was done between the trees, while the strimmers tackled the wider spaces. There is a lot of comfrey growing on the site which will provide good mulch later in the year.

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Each year, the North Cumbria Orchard Group hold a Christmas Dinner to mark the end and of the apple year. This year’s event was held at the Barista restaurant in Wigton on Thus 14th Dec with 25 members attending. The event was very successful – possibly indicated by the number of bottles and glasses on the table!

Those attending the dinner were entered into a free draw for 10 Litres of the Cider Group’s 2023 vintage. This was won by Alexander who seemed very pleased with his prize!

A cider competition is normally held at the end of the dinner to gauge the quality of the cider produced in the region – with a few commercial brands thrown in to provide a comparison. There was a great addition to the competition this year with the introduction of a prize for the winner of an inscribed tankard donated by Eileen Rees in memory of Ronald Graham (last year's winner). The results are shown in the attached document.

The competition was technically won by an oak-aged commercial craft cider, but was closely followed among the members' entries by Mark Evens's limited edition keeved Dabinett, which therefore won the Ronald Graham cup.

So what do the results tell us? Any lessons to be learnt?

1. Mark entered two identical ciders – but prepared in two different ways. The best of the two, and the overall winner among the members' entries, was prepared by keeving. The definition of keeving according cider.org.uk is :-

“'Keeving' is a way of making the ultimate style of naturally sweet sparkling cider. This is traditional both in Western England and the northwest of France, but whereas it has virtually died out as a commercial proposition in the UK, it is still very much alive for the production of ‘cidre bouché’ in France. The underlying principle is to remove nutrients from the juice by complexation with pectin at an early stage, to ensure a long slow fermentation which finishes and can be bottled while still sweet and without any fear of excessive re-fermentation later.”

So perhaps NCOG members should consider this method for next year. If so, look up 'keeving kit' on the internet

2. Cider doesn’t seem to age well. It’s not like wine where it matures over the time. So the Vintage Annie Elizabeth which won last year and the Covid Cider (2022) both dropped down in the scoring. (Mark disagrees - it is largely a matter of taste - last year's winner was not fully fermented and therefore slightly sweet - see the point below)
3. There seems to be a definite preference towards sweetness. The Keeved, Pear Cider, & Holly Cottage apple juice (alcohol-free cider!) all scored in the upper half of the table.
4. The Asda offering still held up in the scoring – with some giving it high scores. Perhaps the artificial sweeteners used attracts some people (see point 3 above) although others described it as chemical and nasty.
5. Would it be worth trying try to get hold of an oak barrel to mature some of our cider? Is this really what Sheppy do?