We've been busy on Thursdays (unless rain stopped play) keeping the Orchard trees fit and healthy. We've weeded around the base of all the trees, including the large ones, then mulched them. This feeds the trees and helps to retain moisture when its dry.
On Sunday the first ever Old Trafford Open Gardens event took place and Orchard49 was one of the open spaces within Seymour Grove allotments. It was nice to have some visitors and to help people out with questions about growing fruit.
We have some raspberries to crop following tying them into the support structure that was put up in October. If you're passing the Orchard, do take some.
The trees that we grafted at the workshop in March are doing well. About 80% of the grafts were successful - which means about 18 trees will be grown on for the plant sale in May 2016.
One of the orchard volunteers, Pete, is learning how to make films and will be making a short film about Orchard49. More on this when we know more.
Next week another group of corporate volunteers will be helping out on the orchard, and the allotment site. Let's hope the weather is kind!
A reminder - we run regular work sessions on Thursday evenings between 6.30 and 8 pm. If you'd like to come along, even if its just to have a look at how the orchard is developing you're very welcome.
Showing posts with label grafting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grafting. Show all posts
Regular evening work sessions resume
The evenings are light enough for the regular evening work sessions to resume. We've changed the date from a Monday to Thursday, so hope to see some people who weren't able to make Mondays.
During the first session last Thursday Debbie and Lorna were busy tying in the raspberry canes, tidying up the grape vines and thornless blackberry plants that climb up the pergola. We also weeded amongst the trees grafted in March and put some bamboo canes and string around the nursery bed to alert people to the tiny trees. The majority of the trees grafted have taken, so next May we will be able to sell these to raise some money for Orchard maintenance.
These sessions run from 6.30 - 8 pm. Do come and lend a hand, even if you only have half an hour to spare. Aside from anything else, given how healthy the raspberry canes look, we're going to need plenty of people to pick and eat the fruit so none is wasted.
Some other orchard images to entice you down to lend a hand....
During the first session last Thursday Debbie and Lorna were busy tying in the raspberry canes, tidying up the grape vines and thornless blackberry plants that climb up the pergola. We also weeded amongst the trees grafted in March and put some bamboo canes and string around the nursery bed to alert people to the tiny trees. The majority of the trees grafted have taken, so next May we will be able to sell these to raise some money for Orchard maintenance.
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| One of the grafted trees |
Some other orchard images to entice you down to lend a hand....
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| Baby pears |
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| The fruit arch - the trees are growing well |
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| Pergola and bench |
Sunny Saturday Grafting Session
On Saturday 7th March we hosted a grafting workshop. Its the third one that we've organised and we were very pleased to welcome some new faces to learn this skill. Tom Adams ran the session beginning by explaining how grafting works. After that everyone had a chance to practise using willow and then apple wood before taking the plunge and making new trees with the rootstock that Tom had brought for us.
By the end of the day the group 37 trees had been created and 21 of these were planted in a nursery bed on Orchard49. Those that are successful will be sold to raise funds for upkeep of the Orchard. Everyone who participated could also take a tree (or two!) away with them.
We also grafted 2 new varieties for the orchard with cuttings (called scions) Tom brought along. Those two varieties are Pitmaston Pineapple and Golden Noble. We will post more about how the trees are doing later in the year. Here are some photos of the day.
Firstly we have a table of cuttings - these get grafted (joined) to rootstock and bound together to make a tree using a whip and tongue graft.
The next photos show the process to create a new tree.
The next series of pictures show the participants hard at work.
Finally the first two trees waiting to go to Orchard49.
Many thanks to Unicorn Grocery for funding the session, it wouldn't have been possible without you. Thanks also to Tom for sharing his skills and to everyone who worked so hard to make new trees on the day. And those trees you took away with you, hope they live many a long year.
Tom can be reached on: 01691 777512 or 07776 498936
Email: tomtheappleman@yahoo.co.uk
By the end of the day the group 37 trees had been created and 21 of these were planted in a nursery bed on Orchard49. Those that are successful will be sold to raise funds for upkeep of the Orchard. Everyone who participated could also take a tree (or two!) away with them.
We also grafted 2 new varieties for the orchard with cuttings (called scions) Tom brought along. Those two varieties are Pitmaston Pineapple and Golden Noble. We will post more about how the trees are doing later in the year. Here are some photos of the day.
Firstly we have a table of cuttings - these get grafted (joined) to rootstock and bound together to make a tree using a whip and tongue graft.
The next photos show the process to create a new tree.
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| Beginning the process - exposing the cambium layer |
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| Making a cut into the wood |
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| Each side of the graft with whip and tongue cut in to allow the pieces to join together |
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| Two pieces joined and bound to protect the graft. |
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| From the left: Tom, Georgina, Lorna, Laura, Anuraag, Nikki, Suzy, Alan |
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| From the left: Tom, Georgina and Rupa |
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| From the left: Alan and Robert (Tom, Georgina and Rupa) |
Many thanks to Unicorn Grocery for funding the session, it wouldn't have been possible without you. Thanks also to Tom for sharing his skills and to everyone who worked so hard to make new trees on the day. And those trees you took away with you, hope they live many a long year.
Tom can be reached on: 01691 777512 or 07776 498936
Email: tomtheappleman@yahoo.co.uk
Grafting workshop 7th March 2015
This Saturday we will be holding another grafting session in the pavillion at Seymour Grove allotments. This will be the third grating session we've run and this time, we're hoping to nuture some of the grafted trees and sell them at future plant sales to help with maintaining the orchard.
It doesn't take a lot of money to do this, but by regualrly mulching the trees with compost and/or manure they stay healthy and the organic matter costs! We sometimes need to buy replacement tools, if the ones we have get broken, or identify something new we need. The roofing felt on the shed has perished, so this needs replacing... that is the kind of thing we will use the money for.
We will post some pics later...
It doesn't take a lot of money to do this, but by regualrly mulching the trees with compost and/or manure they stay healthy and the organic matter costs! We sometimes need to buy replacement tools, if the ones we have get broken, or identify something new we need. The roofing felt on the shed has perished, so this needs replacing... that is the kind of thing we will use the money for.
We will post some pics later...
March 2014 Planting Days
We held two planting days in March, and were blessed with dry days. By the end of the two days we had planted:
Apple
Crab Apple Dartmouth - this is to help with overall pollination of the apple trees on the orchard
*Bountiful
*Blenheim Orange
Pear
*Concorde
*Conference
*Comice
* grafted by us at a workshop in 2012
Stone Fruit
Damson Shropshire Prune
Gage Denniston's Superb
Gage Golden Transparent
Plum Marjorie's Seedling
These are all maiden trees so it will take a while before we can harvest the fruit.
Soft Fruit
Raspberry Glen Ample (x 10) (summer fruiting)
Raspberry Polka (x 10) (autumn fruiting)
We also need to build a raised bed to put two blueberry bushes in - as these were in pots getting them in the ground wasn't so crucial. The varieties are: Coville and Bluecrop.
This means the orchard is almost full. We have a little bit of space along a fence line with the bakery, but its nearly full.
Apple
Crab Apple Dartmouth - this is to help with overall pollination of the apple trees on the orchard
*Bountiful
*Blenheim Orange
Pear
*Concorde
*Conference
*Comice
* grafted by us at a workshop in 2012
Stone Fruit
Damson Shropshire Prune
Gage Denniston's Superb
Gage Golden Transparent
Plum Marjorie's Seedling
These are all maiden trees so it will take a while before we can harvest the fruit.
Soft Fruit
Raspberry Glen Ample (x 10) (summer fruiting)
Raspberry Polka (x 10) (autumn fruiting)
We also need to build a raised bed to put two blueberry bushes in - as these were in pots getting them in the ground wasn't so crucial. The varieties are: Coville and Bluecrop.
This means the orchard is almost full. We have a little bit of space along a fence line with the bakery, but its nearly full.
Grafting Workshop March 2012
Saturday 10th March 2012 saw us hosting another grafting workshop at the allotment site. We welcomed friends from Rylands Kitchen Garden, a community allotment project in Longford Park along to make some trees as part of the Longford Park Centenary celebrations. We also hosted Anna visiting from Glossop who is developing a communty allotment, plus 4 Orchard volunteers, and Rob from Moss Brook Growers who was attending to graft some Morello Cherries.
The session was run by Tom Adams from Shropshire. It will take a while to know if our efforts have been successful, but we had a wonderful day learning how. The session was funded by a Local Food grant.
Here are some photos of Tom and participants busy grafting pear, apple and cherry.
The session was run by Tom Adams from Shropshire. It will take a while to know if our efforts have been successful, but we had a wonderful day learning how. The session was funded by a Local Food grant.
Here are some photos of Tom and participants busy grafting pear, apple and cherry.
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| Lorna taping up the graft point |
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| Anna cutting the rootstock |
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| Hilary using a handing tool to graft |
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| Claire tidying up her scion before joining it to the rootstock |
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| Tom taping up the graft point on a cherry |
Trees planted March 4th 2012!
Despite the weather we planted more trees at the community orchard today. It stopped raining long enough for us to press on with the work.
Big thanks to everyone who helped: Lorna, Claire, Pete, Richard and Debbie.
We planted:
Apple Acklam Russet
Apple Balsam
Apple Golden Spire
Apple Hunt's House
Apple Merlin's apple
Apple New Bess Pool
Apple Newton Wonder
Apple Rosemary Russet
Apple Sisson's Worksop Newton
Pear Beth
Pear Onward
Cherry Stella
Cherry Morello
Quince Portugal
These were all purchased with the grant from Local Food which is part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments.
Some of the apple and pear trees were planted beside arches and will be trained to grow up and over the arches. The idea for this came from the Garden Organic orchard at Ryton Gardens. It will take many years for them to reach this size, but the picture shows what we have in mind.
An added bonus today was a surprise visit from Peter Nichol from the Northern Fruit Group. Peter came to drop off some scions for our grafting workshop next weekend, but we asked him to help us prune the trees, many thanks!
Big thanks to everyone who helped: Lorna, Claire, Pete, Richard and Debbie.
We planted:
Apple Acklam Russet
Apple Balsam
Apple Golden Spire
Apple Hunt's House
Apple Merlin's apple
Apple New Bess Pool
Apple Newton Wonder
Apple Rosemary Russet
Apple Sisson's Worksop Newton
Pear Beth
Pear Onward
Cherry Stella
Cherry Morello
Quince Portugal
These were all purchased with the grant from Local Food which is part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments.
Some of the apple and pear trees were planted beside arches and will be trained to grow up and over the arches. The idea for this came from the Garden Organic orchard at Ryton Gardens. It will take many years for them to reach this size, but the picture shows what we have in mind.
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| Apple Arch at Garden Organic's orchard |
An added bonus today was a surprise visit from Peter Nichol from the Northern Fruit Group. Peter came to drop off some scions for our grafting workshop next weekend, but we asked him to help us prune the trees, many thanks!
Apple Day 2011
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| Baking - delicious! |
We pressed gallons of apple (and some pear) juice with the help of young and old. Almost all the fruit we pressed was fallen fruit gathered from plots on our site, so not only were we all drinking delicious juice we were using food that would otherwise have been wasted.
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| Loading press with crushed apple. |
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| Ready to be pressed. |
Apple Tasting in the pavilion was also very popular. We asked people on the site to provide us with some apples for people to sample, and we also had a couple of varieties from the community orchard. Even though the trees on the orchard are very young, we had some Fillingham Pippin (a delicious crisp eater) and one very large cooker - Lord Suffield. This is as close as we can get to having a Manchester apple variety. It was created in Middleton and we're very lucky to have a tree as they aren't widely available. Phil Rainford from the Northern Fruit Group provided us with a scion when we had the grafting workshop in March 2010 after a long search to find somewhere with a Lord Suffield tree.
The Lord Suffield apple was huge - a testament to the advice to thin your crop to get a smaller number of larger apples... I took all but one fruit bud off when they formed and the result was a very large fruit. Yes, I know that strictly speaking you shouldn't let any fruit form on very young trees, but if you can't locate any trees like the one you have locally, isn't it important to get an idea of what the fruit looks and taste like?
Its a yellow cooker and everyone who tasted a slice of Lord Suffield said it was a good cooker - the sort that would cook into a delicious puree - and that it was not too tart either, so wouldn't need much sweetening.
Visitors to the community orchard might have spotted a wonderful "Orchard 49" sign on the shed door, crafted from recycled materials by Trisha Church - thanks, its wonderful.
Thanks also to all the volunteers on the day, the bakers, the cleaners and gleaners for making the event such a success.
Planting completed
January-March 2011 was a busy time for us. We had lots of trees to plant on the community orchard. Challenging weather conditions November-January meant that our planting window was quite small.
All the trees we had to plant for the 2010-2011 dormant period are now in the ground and florishing. We planted 30 trees, 17 of which are cordon trees - they will grow along a fence line as a way of demonstrating how fruit can be grown in smaller spaces. So, we currently have 13 trees planted in the top half of the orchard. All but 9 of these are trees we grafted.
The trees we grafted ourselves (in March 2010) and planted are:
(Pollination group in brackets)
Lord Derby D
Yorkshire Cockpit C
Lemon Pippin D
Allington Pippin C
Bossom (Mid)
Stripped Beefing C
Queen Cox B
Minshull Crab C
Lord Lambourne C
Burr Knot C
D’Arcy Spice D
Crispin (10)
Downham Pippin D
All the above are cordon trees
Ashmeads Kernel D
Bee Bench ?
Eccleston Pippin ?
Laxton‘s Superb D
Lord Suffield B
Plot 52 ? This is a tree on our site (on plot 52) yet to be identified.
Tydeman’s Early Worcester D
Withington Welter C
And we purchased and planted:
Duke of Devonshire B
Fillingham Pippin B (grafted by Peter Nichol locally)
Flower of the Town B
Grandpa Buxton B (grafted by Peter Nichol locally)
Greenup's Pippin B
Keswick Codling B
Ladies Finger of Lancaster C
Ribston Pippin D
Tydeman's Late Orange D
All the trees we had to plant for the 2010-2011 dormant period are now in the ground and florishing. We planted 30 trees, 17 of which are cordon trees - they will grow along a fence line as a way of demonstrating how fruit can be grown in smaller spaces. So, we currently have 13 trees planted in the top half of the orchard. All but 9 of these are trees we grafted.
The trees we grafted ourselves (in March 2010) and planted are:
(Pollination group in brackets)
Lord Derby D
Yorkshire Cockpit C
Lemon Pippin D
Allington Pippin C
Bossom (Mid)
Stripped Beefing C
Queen Cox B
Minshull Crab C
Lord Lambourne C
Burr Knot C
D’Arcy Spice D
Crispin (10)
Downham Pippin D
All the above are cordon trees
Ashmeads Kernel D
Bee Bench ?
Eccleston Pippin ?
Laxton‘s Superb D
Lord Suffield B
Plot 52 ? This is a tree on our site (on plot 52) yet to be identified.
Tydeman’s Early Worcester D
Withington Welter C
And we purchased and planted:
Duke of Devonshire B
Fillingham Pippin B (grafted by Peter Nichol locally)
Flower of the Town B
Grandpa Buxton B (grafted by Peter Nichol locally)
Greenup's Pippin B
Keswick Codling B
Ladies Finger of Lancaster C
Ribston Pippin D
Tydeman's Late Orange D
Grafted Trees Planted
All but one of the trees grafted during the workshop in March 2010 have now been planted in the top half of the orchard. We're waiting delivery of the seven trees we ordered from a specialist nursery - which should be dispatched soon. Three of these need planting as bush trees and four will go along the fence and be grown as cordon trees.
We have some duplicate trees (where we grafted more than one of the variety) and these trees are going to be put in pots and offered for sale at our plant sale in May.
Other news: the shed will be going up next weekend, and once this is done there will be tools for people to use stored in the shed.
We have some duplicate trees (where we grafted more than one of the variety) and these trees are going to be put in pots and offered for sale at our plant sale in May.
Other news: the shed will be going up next weekend, and once this is done there will be tools for people to use stored in the shed.
Grafted Tree news
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.
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.
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.
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.
Developing an orchard from scratch
What do we mean when we say we want to develop an orchard from scratch? Well, instead of buying trees from a nursery this way involves obtaining rootstock and grafting the variety of tree you want to grow onto the rootstock. Rootstock is used to control the size of a tree. You can buy apple trees suitable for growing in a container that will only develop a small rootball (e.g. M27) or you can grow a tree that will stand 15 feet high (M25).
Establishing an orchard this way is a slower process, but if you have limited funds its a cheaper way of doing it. Another bonus is that it develops new skills - how to graft. Another aspect of this is actually growing rootstock itself. Until recently, I was completely ignorant of this aspect of tree fruit horticulture. There are places around the country that grow rootstock and sell it to people who want to graft to make new trees.
Why then not have a try at doing this ourselves? Our allotment society holds plant sales to raise funds for our site, so if we can learn how to grow rootstock, and graft to make new trees we can then sell these to raise money for the site. The other advantage of adopting this approach is that we can create new trees from existing healthy vigourous trees on our allotment site. Hopefully this will lead to fruit trees that are well suited to the local conditions.
There is a small window in the year when grafting can take place, when the sap starts to rise - this is the time to graft. Its weather dependent but happens late March to early April, generally speaking.
If you want to learn more about rootstock, the different types and what they are suitable for visit the Trees For Life Website for more information.
Establishing an orchard this way is a slower process, but if you have limited funds its a cheaper way of doing it. Another bonus is that it develops new skills - how to graft. Another aspect of this is actually growing rootstock itself. Until recently, I was completely ignorant of this aspect of tree fruit horticulture. There are places around the country that grow rootstock and sell it to people who want to graft to make new trees.
Why then not have a try at doing this ourselves? Our allotment society holds plant sales to raise funds for our site, so if we can learn how to grow rootstock, and graft to make new trees we can then sell these to raise money for the site. The other advantage of adopting this approach is that we can create new trees from existing healthy vigourous trees on our allotment site. Hopefully this will lead to fruit trees that are well suited to the local conditions.
There is a small window in the year when grafting can take place, when the sap starts to rise - this is the time to graft. Its weather dependent but happens late March to early April, generally speaking.
If you want to learn more about rootstock, the different types and what they are suitable for visit the Trees For Life Website for more information.
Beginnings
In 2008 Old Trafford Amateur Gardeners' Society (OTAGS) committee decided to adopt a hard to let plot on its site in Old Trafford. This plot, number 49, had not been properly cultivated since 1995 so it seemed a good idea to develop the plot into a community orchard.
We have lots of ideas about how to do this, including growing trees from scratch, by grafting onto rootstock using scions from other established community orchards in the area. We feel this will be an interesting approach, rather than buying them from nurseries and thought that it would be interesting to record this process and share it using a blog.
We hope to submit a bid for Local Food Funding to enable us to buy equipment for the orchard and the site (e.g. an apple press to make the most of all the apples already being grown on the allotments) and to run some workshops (e.g. a grafting workshop next year).
We have lots of ideas about how to do this, including growing trees from scratch, by grafting onto rootstock using scions from other established community orchards in the area. We feel this will be an interesting approach, rather than buying them from nurseries and thought that it would be interesting to record this process and share it using a blog.
We hope to submit a bid for Local Food Funding to enable us to buy equipment for the orchard and the site (e.g. an apple press to make the most of all the apples already being grown on the allotments) and to run some workshops (e.g. a grafting workshop next year).
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