Dunsden Community Orchard

Invitation to the Orchard's AGM

2009-11-06T00:26:46+00:00

We are holding the orchard's AGM in Dunsden Village Hall on Tuesday November 24th at 7.30pm.

All are welcome. There will be a short business meeting as well as an opportunity for socialising. There will be reports on progress at the orchard, opportunities to get directly involved as well as refreshments and (with luck) local apples.

Orchard news

2009-10-02T11:18:10+01:00

Despite the recent drought, our trees are surviving, although some still need watering. It is hoped to arrange a working party towards the end of October (more details later). Interesting events in the next week or so include the Henley Show Ploughing Match at Dunsden and a chance to visit the Crosslanes Fruit Farm at Mapledurham.

The ploughing match starts at 9am this Sunday October 4, with the blessing of the plough. Besides heavy horse and tractor ploughing competitions, attractions include birds of prey, ferret racing and craft and trade stalls. Parking is free.

Crosslanes Fruit Farm at Mapledurham is open from 10am to 5pm on Sunday October 11. There will be advice on all aspects of fruit growing, competitions for children, and sales of produce, including apples from amongst the over 60 varieties grown at Crosslanes.

August working party (again!)

2009-08-18T23:29:55+01:00

Please join us next Sunday 23 August from 2.30pm for another orchard working party. We will continue work on tidying the orchard and, with a bit of luck, will install our new bench. If you have sponsored a tree, please take advantage of this opportunity to see how the tree is doing (and to tidy around it as well!) - perhaps yours is one of the few with apples this year!

If the day is fine, why not bring a picnic to eat in the orchard beforehand? For further information please call David on 07802 433058.

All set for Sunday?

2009-07-27T22:09:01+01:00

We are looking forward to tidying up the orchard from 2pm this Sunday. We have some new label-holders to prepare and fix, and depending on who can attend, we may also install a bench at the top of the orchard.

Welcome to our new supporters! A number of people have recently joined the orchard or sponsored trees, following a recent leaflet distribution to Eye & Dunsden and Binfield Heath. We hope to gain further supporters from trips to the Henley and Binfield Heath Shows this year, perhaps even with a few of our own apples.

Thanks to a much-appreciated loan from Phillimore Farms, a bowser should be in position which we can use to water the trees. Even after the recent rain parts of the orchard are still parched and August is expected to be dry.

If you haven't been to a working party before, do think of joining us on Sunday. We are a friendly bunch!

Next orchard day announced

2009-05-22T00:54:05+01:00

A group of ten enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the orchard recently and now we need some more volunteers to complete the work.

Sunday June 7th has been fixed. Local tree surgeon Neil Wilson of Beechwood Tree Care has very kindly offered to help get into shape some of the trees on the orchard boundary and will need a hand from around 10am. In the afternoon we will be fixing labels and maybe installing our new feature bench at the top of the orchard. Please get in touch if you can make it on the day. Refreshments should be available.

Any questions please call David on 969 3633. We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Next working party

2009-04-24T15:32:28+01:00

We shall next be meeting at the orchard on Sunday May 10 from 2.15pm. Please come along and join in the fun.

We shall be:

attaching our shiny new tree labels
guarding the few unprotected trees
getting the bench/picnic table out of Mandy's garage and installed in the orchard (on concrete bases)
spraying and then clearing bramble roots
burning the bramble remains
making sure the hornbeams in their temporary trench are thriving
holding a short meeting to discuss the lease agreement with the parish council

There should be enjoyable tasks for people of all ages. We look forward to seeing you. Call David woodward on 969 3633 for more.

Chilterns Board come up trumps

We are delighted to report that we have received a grant of £1549.33 from the Chilterns Conservation Board. Many thanks to Kath Daly and her colleagues for their support.

Community orchards in the news

BBC Radio 4's You & Yours carried an interesting item about community orchards today. You can use the 'Listen Again' feature if you missed the programme.

Progress thanks to Chilterns AONB

2009-03-22T11:25:57+00:00

Thanks to a grant from the Chilterns AONB we have made some good progress since Christmas. Some impressive labels have been ordered for our fruit trees and we have also purchased and heeled in some hornbeam trees for the boundary with the village green. Several replacement fruit trees have also been planted.

A fine new bench which will be the centre piece of a walk through the orchard has been purchased and will be installed soon. We have also been able to buy a picnic bench which will be another pleasant spot from which to enjoy the orchard.

The labels record both the name of each tree and of each dedicatee. They will be inavluable when we produce an educational booklet describing a walk around the orchard. In the next few weeks we need to hold a working party to securely install the new bench and seat and to definitively remove the brambles along the green edge.

Watch this site for more details!