A grand day out!

Sun's out, winter pruners out at Greysouthen this February 1st. Keep reading for more technical details and a soup recipe...

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.