E.C.Orchard Group.

Saturday October 22nd was a beautiful Autumn day. It marked what is now an annual event for the Parish – the Apple Day. On this day people come together, young and old, to celebrate the apple and pear harvest, do something useful with it, and have some fun in the process.

On the day, before the public started arriving at the OHMG around noon, volunteers with the Eastington Community Orchards (ECO) group prepared the site, installing the large scratting machine (for chopping up the fruit) and the heavy wooden press (for squeezing the juice out). These were sited just in front of the hall, together with a hosepipe to wash the fruit, plus a large urn to pasteurise the juice prior to bottling. This ensures that the juice can be stored long term.

Baskets of apples and pears collected over the preceding week were brought to the hall, but there was still more picking to be done! At around 10.00am, teams set off to local gardens and orchards to bring in more fruit to feed the scratting machine and the press.

I went with John, Karen, Chris and boys to the house of donors in Gossington, Ben and Lisa Lundy. This family, together with many other households in the area, are regular suppliers of fruit to ECO. The Lundy family have a large orchard in a delightful garden that also features a natural bathing pool. Their fruit trees are well looked after and were loaded with near-perfect apples.

One medium sized Bramley tree quickly yielded six baskets of high quality fruit.

On returning to base, everything was in full swing.

Over the course of the afternoon around 60 visitors came to join in and something like 400 litres of juice were produced.

Not all juice was pasteurised. Some was poured directly into plastic bottles for immediate consumption and some selected apple and pear juice was kept aside to make cider and perry. (Last year’s cider batch is currently being tested and treated prior to bottling).

The donors of the fruit and the

workers are rewarded with bottles

of juice.

Bottles of juice and cider are available to the local community. Some is sold at Christmas gatherings, such as the carol service in the Cathedral and local Craft Fairs. If you would like to buy some, see contact details below - (our special packs make great Christmas gifts!)

On a personal note, I am delighted to be involved with the ECO group as a volunteer. I was born in Nastend but spent most of my working life far away, only recently returning to care for my Dad, Keith, also born nearby. Volunteering with ECO has given me a chance to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and do something useful and worthwhile for the community. I have also managed to learn a lot in the process. For example, back in the early Spring, I joined other group members on a tree grafting course.

We as a family also donate fruit to ECO, apples and pears. Prior to me returning to Nastend, an Underleaf tree in our garden had provided fruit which makes excellent juice. The Underleaf is a traditional Gloucestershire apple, now rarely found. I’m pleased to say that the two grafts we took from the tree while on the course are both doing well. One will be planted in our garden and the other has been donated to ECO. This young tree will either go into the established Coneygree orchard, near the church, or the newly acquired Brownings orchard behind the King’s Head.

Although the juice-making season has drawn to a close, there are still many opportunities for people who would like to volunteer with ECO, not least in helping to clear the Brownings site prior to planting.