This week, with the help of Peter Nichol from the Northern Fruit Group, the trees that were created at our March grafting workshop were pruned. Mainly this involved pruning out the growth underneath the graft, where the rootstock was growing vigourously. This was also an opportunity to look closely at how the trees were growing and to take the tape off a few to see how the union between the rootstock and the scion had taken.
For first time grafters there was some very good work (said Peter). None of the plum grafts took, but the rootstock has bulked up over the year, offering a better chance of success next year. The other interesting development is that where the grafting failed some of the rootstock has branched out - providing two stems on which to graft. This means we could grow a damson on one side and a greengage on the other (for example). These are called family trees, and are available commercially, but we will be able to choose material from particularly tasty plums or apples available on the allotment site or from other communtity orchards locally to graft.
We have 30 apple trees, some of which are duplicates. The most prolific grafters were Teresa and Natalia who both created 6 trees with Pete creating 5 trees.
New Path and Fencing
On Friday 17th September OTAGS community orchard volunteers worked with Wates Living Space NW to lay a path and construct fencing for the orchard. We were lucky to have great weather on the day. For more on this see the Partnership Working page and the photos of the various stages of this job.
Thanks to all who took part.
Thanks to all who took part.
Making progress
Our last work day (4th September) was very productive. Many thanks to everyone who came and helped. We had 8 people working hard. A new volunteer, Ayla helped dig up potatoes planted to use the ground while we get ready for planting in the winter. We hope to see her again at another work day (and hope you enjoy those potatoes)!
Our grafted trees are growing well too - so well that their tags needed adjusting, as the girth of their stems had grown so that the tags were squeezing the bark.
We have a community day on Friday 17th September when Wates Living Space will be coming to the community orchard to work with us on laying a path and fencing. The fencing which will be used to plant some of the grafted trees.
For some photos see the Work Days page.
Our grafted trees are growing well too - so well that their tags needed adjusting, as the girth of their stems had grown so that the tags were squeezing the bark.
We have a community day on Friday 17th September when Wates Living Space will be coming to the community orchard to work with us on laying a path and fencing. The fencing which will be used to plant some of the grafted trees.
For some photos see the Work Days page.
Work Day Saturday 4th September
We will be having a work day from 2 pm on 4th September in preparation for having the path and fencing work done the following week. Do come along if you can spare and hour or two.
Apple Day Celebration October 16th
OTAGS will be hosting an Apple Day on October 16th from 12-3 pm. This is a new event which we hope will become regular, with apple tasting and juicing (using our new apple press). After the success of the See More Trail at our Open Day in August we will be running another See More Fruit Trail as a way of encouraging people to walk around the site - with a series of fruity clues to entice them.
Fruity pies and cakes (baked by plotholders) will be sold along with the usual refreshments.
As always we need people to help make this happen. If you'd be interested in helping on the day please get in touch debbie.ellen@gmail.com!
Where: Seymour Grove Allotments, Warwick Court, off Kings Road (next to Kings Road Primary school), M16 0JG.
When: Saturday October 16th 12-3 pm.
Fruity pies and cakes (baked by plotholders) will be sold along with the usual refreshments.
As always we need people to help make this happen. If you'd be interested in helping on the day please get in touch debbie.ellen@gmail.com!
Where: Seymour Grove Allotments, Warwick Court, off Kings Road (next to Kings Road Primary school), M16 0JG.
When: Saturday October 16th 12-3 pm.
Open Day - 14th August 2010
Old Trafford Amateur Gardeners' Society is holding an Open Day on Saturday 14th August at Seymour Grove Allotments, celebrating National Allotments Week. Come and see the orchard!
Our gates will be open from 12-3 pm . You can find us on Warwick Court, Off Kings Road, Old Trafford, M16 0JG (Warwick Court is beside Kings Road Primary School)
On offer on the day:
Seasonal produce donated for sale by plotholders (subject to availability given the dry conditions this season - so come early!)
Home made cream teas, with allotment jams
Car Boot Sale
"See More" Trail for kids
Take a walk around our allotment site, see how our gardens grow
Find out about the Community Orchard - get involved!
Enjoy some quiet family time in the fresh air
All proceeds from the day go to Old Trafford Amateur Gardeners' Society to run the allotment site.
Our gates will be open from 12-3 pm . You can find us on Warwick Court, Off Kings Road, Old Trafford, M16 0JG (Warwick Court is beside Kings Road Primary School)
On offer on the day:
Seasonal produce donated for sale by plotholders (subject to availability given the dry conditions this season - so come early!)
Home made cream teas, with allotment jams
Car Boot Sale
"See More" Trail for kids
Take a walk around our allotment site, see how our gardens grow
Find out about the Community Orchard - get involved!
Enjoy some quiet family time in the fresh air
All proceeds from the day go to Old Trafford Amateur Gardeners' Society to run the allotment site.
June and July work days
We have organised two more Community Orchard work days in June and July. If you haven't been down yet it would be great to see you. Also, if you have family or friends who are interested in growing fruit who might like to get involved in the project please let them know about the work days - as we want the project to be open to people who live locally.
Dates for diaries:
Saturday June 19th 2-6 pm
Saturday July 3rd 2-6 pm
NB If its pouring down then we won't be there. If in doubt, give me a call on 07960 713 018
Directions: plot is in the far right hand corne of the allotment site. Access is via Warwick Court gate, off Kings Road (next to the primary school). If the gates are shut please ring me and I'll come and let you in - 07960 713 018.
Progress is being made; during the last work day (well on the Sunday as the Saturday was rained off) we worked at taming some of the long grass and a particularly dedicated volunteer spent hours digging out all kinds of rubbish from the bottom end of the orchard (9 wheel barrows to be precise, from an area about 3 ft by 13 ft), taking advantage of a skip provided by OTAGS for the whole allotment site that weekend.
We have also planted some crops in the top half of the orchard where the ground has been dug numerous times, removing the mass of bindweed and couch grass. Also, a couple of dedicated volunteers have been offered some space for one growing season to use ground that would otherwise have lain fallow prior to planting trees there next winter.
Hope to see some of you on the orchard soon!
Dates for diaries:
Saturday June 19th 2-6 pm
Saturday July 3rd 2-6 pm
NB If its pouring down then we won't be there. If in doubt, give me a call on 07960 713 018
Directions: plot is in the far right hand corne of the allotment site. Access is via Warwick Court gate, off Kings Road (next to the primary school). If the gates are shut please ring me and I'll come and let you in - 07960 713 018.
Progress is being made; during the last work day (well on the Sunday as the Saturday was rained off) we worked at taming some of the long grass and a particularly dedicated volunteer spent hours digging out all kinds of rubbish from the bottom end of the orchard (9 wheel barrows to be precise, from an area about 3 ft by 13 ft), taking advantage of a skip provided by OTAGS for the whole allotment site that weekend.
We have also planted some crops in the top half of the orchard where the ground has been dug numerous times, removing the mass of bindweed and couch grass. Also, a couple of dedicated volunteers have been offered some space for one growing season to use ground that would otherwise have lain fallow prior to planting trees there next winter.
Hope to see some of you on the orchard soon!
Orchard News
Debbie was invited to speak at the Garden Organic Annual General Meeting on Saturday 22nd May. She told people about the community orchard and the meeting was very interested in our hopes and aspirations. There was a lot of interest shown in our efforts to grow trees from scratch, a process known as grafting.
This is what is done if you want to be sure to create a tree with the same characteristics as another. So for example, you have a tree on your allotment plot that is disease free and very productive, but you don't know what it is, as the tree was already there and not labelled. To make a new tree you graft (join) a cutting from the tree you have with the rootstock of a disease free plant to make a new tree. Using rootstock like this means you'll be sure to get trees that are a suitable size for your location.
In March 2010, we held a grafting workshop at our allotment site and made around 60 trees. Some were taken by participants to plant elsewhere, but the majority were planted out on the orchard. By early May most had taken - which means we have lots of trees to plant along the fence line as horizontal cordons in November-March.
29th May Work Day
The Saturday was a bit of a wash out - but a few of us made a day of it on Sunday instead. There was a skip on the allotment site and we dug out 9 wheelbarrows worth of rubbish, rubble, glass, and metal from the bottom end of the orchard. Its a bit like an archeological dig - you don't know what is going to be discovered next!
We hope that the worst of the rubbish has now been removed and future work days will be about tackling weeds instead. Watch this blog for details of up and coming work days.
This is what is done if you want to be sure to create a tree with the same characteristics as another. So for example, you have a tree on your allotment plot that is disease free and very productive, but you don't know what it is, as the tree was already there and not labelled. To make a new tree you graft (join) a cutting from the tree you have with the rootstock of a disease free plant to make a new tree. Using rootstock like this means you'll be sure to get trees that are a suitable size for your location.
In March 2010, we held a grafting workshop at our allotment site and made around 60 trees. Some were taken by participants to plant elsewhere, but the majority were planted out on the orchard. By early May most had taken - which means we have lots of trees to plant along the fence line as horizontal cordons in November-March.
29th May Work Day
The Saturday was a bit of a wash out - but a few of us made a day of it on Sunday instead. There was a skip on the allotment site and we dug out 9 wheelbarrows worth of rubbish, rubble, glass, and metal from the bottom end of the orchard. Its a bit like an archeological dig - you don't know what is going to be discovered next!
We hope that the worst of the rubbish has now been removed and future work days will be about tackling weeds instead. Watch this blog for details of up and coming work days.
29th May Work Day
We are holding another orchard work day this coming weekend - if you're free it would be great to see you. We will be on the allotment site 12-4 on Saturday 29th May. As its been so dry - and therefore the ground is very hard, we won't be concentrating on digging (unless you are very keen!) but there is plenty to do at the bottom end of the orchard which wasn't worked on much last year.
Hopefully there will be a skip on the allotment site which we can use to dispose of any rubbish unearthed during the day. We'll be tacking bramble that has sprouted (digging it out if its possible), clearing away the remnants of an old building and general clearing of the very bottom end of the orchard which has been used as a dumping ground over the years.
If you're able to spare and hour or two it would be great to see you. If you're just curious to see how things are shaping up please come along - you can see all the trees that were grafted at our grafting workshop in March - most of them have taken - which is very encouraging, as we were all novices at grafting.
Call me (Debbie) on the day if the gate isn't open - 07960 713 018 - and I'll come let you in. You can find us on Plot 49 (past the community plot on the far right hand corner of the site) Seymour Grove Allotments, off Warwick Court, Kings Road (Warwick Court is next to Kings Road Primary School).
Debbie
Hopefully there will be a skip on the allotment site which we can use to dispose of any rubbish unearthed during the day. We'll be tacking bramble that has sprouted (digging it out if its possible), clearing away the remnants of an old building and general clearing of the very bottom end of the orchard which has been used as a dumping ground over the years.
If you're able to spare and hour or two it would be great to see you. If you're just curious to see how things are shaping up please come along - you can see all the trees that were grafted at our grafting workshop in March - most of them have taken - which is very encouraging, as we were all novices at grafting.
Call me (Debbie) on the day if the gate isn't open - 07960 713 018 - and I'll come let you in. You can find us on Plot 49 (past the community plot on the far right hand corner of the site) Seymour Grove Allotments, off Warwick Court, Kings Road (Warwick Court is next to Kings Road Primary School).
Debbie
Grafting News
The 40 trees we created at our workshop in March are almost all growing. I've been surprised by the speed with which this has happened. One of the new trees, a variety called Lord Suffield is also flowering.
I thought this was astonishing, but our local Northern Fruit Group expert, Peter Nichol tells me that its very common. It all depends on the type of wood you have on your scion (the bit you take from a tree and join by grafting with the rootstock). If its got fruit buds on it (rather than growth buds) it will flower - even though its just a twig. We just need to rub any fruit off so they don't grow on.
Other news - we had a work day on the early May bank holiday and got a lot of work done. Some of the twice dug ground is going to be used by volunteers who don't have an allotment to grow a few crops that will be finished by Nov-January when the trees will be planted.
Last weekend we took advantage of a skip on the allotment site and disposed of all the debris that had been dug up (plastic, glass, rubble) - so the plot looks much tidier now.
I thought this was astonishing, but our local Northern Fruit Group expert, Peter Nichol tells me that its very common. It all depends on the type of wood you have on your scion (the bit you take from a tree and join by grafting with the rootstock). If its got fruit buds on it (rather than growth buds) it will flower - even though its just a twig. We just need to rub any fruit off so they don't grow on.
Other news - we had a work day on the early May bank holiday and got a lot of work done. Some of the twice dug ground is going to be used by volunteers who don't have an allotment to grow a few crops that will be finished by Nov-January when the trees will be planted.
Last weekend we took advantage of a skip on the allotment site and disposed of all the debris that had been dug up (plastic, glass, rubble) - so the plot looks much tidier now.
Orchard work and information day
We are holding a work and information day at the orchard on Sunday 2nd May. We'll be there from 12-4 pm.
You are welcome to come along and help out with digging/clearing or to simply find out more about the project. Diggers, please bring a garden fork, gloves and some study shoes/boots.
The gates to the site have to be kept locked for security, but give me a ring and I'll come and let you in. The entrance is at Warwick Court, off Kings Road (next to Kings Road Primary School)
My number is 07960 713 018
Hope to see you there. If you can't make it, but would like to be involved, please email plot49@otags.org.uk
Debbie
You are welcome to come along and help out with digging/clearing or to simply find out more about the project. Diggers, please bring a garden fork, gloves and some study shoes/boots.
The gates to the site have to be kept locked for security, but give me a ring and I'll come and let you in. The entrance is at Warwick Court, off Kings Road (next to Kings Road Primary School)
My number is 07960 713 018
Hope to see you there. If you can't make it, but would like to be involved, please email plot49@otags.org.uk
Debbie
Grafting Workshop
On Sunday 13th March OTAGS hosted a grafting workshop. This is how new fruit trees are made. You use 'rootstock' supplied from a specialist grower (so its disease free), with the rootstock chosen based on how small or large you want the tree to be. Then join material pruned from the tree you want to reproduce on to that rootstock - with a graft.
Peter Nichol from the Northern Fruit Group came to show us how and a very productive time was had by all. After spending an hour or so practising how to join the two pieces together, we set about the task of making trees for the orchard. By 3 pm we had grafted 40 trees.
It will take a few months before we will know if all of these have taken, but Peter re-assured us by saying that if any don't work he will show us how to bud - using the same rootstock.
For our orchard it was important to learn how to do this. Buying local heritage trees is expensive, and often they are not available. The idea is that a group of us will be able to continue to practice this skill, pass it on to others and make more trees for the orchard and to sell during our events, raising money to develop the allotment site.
We grafted: Allington Pippen, Ashmeads Kernel, Bee Bench, Bossom, Burr Knot, Crispin, D'Arcy Spice, Downton Pippin, Eccleston Pippen, Lemon Pippin, Laxton's Superb, Lord Derby, Lord Lambourne. Lord Suffield, Minshull Crab, Queen Cox, Stripped Beefing, Tydeman's Early Worcester, Withington Welter and Yorkshire Cockpit. All of these are apples which we grafted on to MM106 rootstock.
We also grafted some unknown apple and unknown plums, damsons and greengages varieties growing on our site. Later in the year we will host an apple identification workshop, where some of these varieties can be identified.
Peter Nichol from the Northern Fruit Group came to show us how and a very productive time was had by all. After spending an hour or so practising how to join the two pieces together, we set about the task of making trees for the orchard. By 3 pm we had grafted 40 trees.
It will take a few months before we will know if all of these have taken, but Peter re-assured us by saying that if any don't work he will show us how to bud - using the same rootstock.
For our orchard it was important to learn how to do this. Buying local heritage trees is expensive, and often they are not available. The idea is that a group of us will be able to continue to practice this skill, pass it on to others and make more trees for the orchard and to sell during our events, raising money to develop the allotment site.
We grafted: Allington Pippen, Ashmeads Kernel, Bee Bench, Bossom, Burr Knot, Crispin, D'Arcy Spice, Downton Pippin, Eccleston Pippen, Lemon Pippin, Laxton's Superb, Lord Derby, Lord Lambourne. Lord Suffield, Minshull Crab, Queen Cox, Stripped Beefing, Tydeman's Early Worcester, Withington Welter and Yorkshire Cockpit. All of these are apples which we grafted on to MM106 rootstock.
We also grafted some unknown apple and unknown plums, damsons and greengages varieties growing on our site. Later in the year we will host an apple identification workshop, where some of these varieties can be identified.
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