Latest Posts

Anyone for a 14th century recipe for what sounds distinctly like a fried, fruit-filled doughnut?

Fried fruity things, with apples, figs, dates, currants and spices? What’s not to like?

Two nights of bad weather after early blossom has bloomed is bad news, but hopefully not the end of this year’s crop.

When winter came in 19th century America, it was out with the thin linen cloths to protect the fruit still on the trees.

16th and 17th century jam-making recipe, anyone? No jars back then though, so you’ll have to store it in boxes…

This anonymously-authored 16th century apple dessert recipe could be a good one for anyone with a butter surplus to shift.

Anyone for an apple Bavarian cream? Time to dust off your old bunny mould and whip up a boozy Victorian dessert in time for Easter.

It’s every orchardist’s worse-case scenario: a sharp frost forecast just as the blossom is starting to open…

As this 1915 ad shows, when it comes to useful orchard equipment, some ideas and designs never go out of date.

Here’s another sweet-sounding baked apple dessert, this time from the early 19th century.

The anonymous author of this 18th century tract takes time our from moralising to make something jammy.

This 19th century recipe is billed as Cheap and Good, and with just four ingredients it should be easy enough to make.

Two 15th century recipes today, both for sweet, colourful, apple and bread / rice potages of some sort.

A poem.

Here’s a 16th century recipe for a sweet, spice, apple and bread sauce (or dessert?) that sounds rather intriguing.

Here’s a quick and easy recipe for the sort of fried apple sweetmeat enjoyed in the early 17th century.

Another 16th century mention for multiple-variety fruit tree grafting suggests it was quite a common practice for the time.

As this 16th century quotation shows, the concept of the multi-variety ‘family’ fruit tree is not a new one.

Hot stomake? Pissing in drops? Dry skin? Gonnhorrhaea? Smallpox scars? John Gerard has a remedy for that, and it’s cheaper than you might think…

Sometimes a drastic tree health problem like apple canker requires a fairly drastic pruning remedy.

Not sure when to graffe your peares, wardens or apples? Here’s Master F. to set you straight.

Bubonic Plague? Pleurisy? Gervase Markham has just the thing to get you back on your feet again.

Here’s a 16th century guide to assembling your graffynge kit, which every good housbande should keep to hand.

A follow-up to last year’s stepover winter pruning post, with details of re-growth and this year’s pruning.

I’ve been meaning to graft up a multi-variety apple tree for a while; here’s my first attempt.

If you’re looking for expert advice on grafting apple and pear trees, look no further.

Another good example of the almost scientific level of knowledge in C17th pomology.

This 17th century snippet seems to be a method for making Brimstone-flavoured cider, unless I’ve read it wrong..?

Hoate stomacke? Take a sowrish apple for that. But watch out for blastinges in the belly…

It’s always a good day when you get to plant new apple trees.

In the 18th century pomologists knew that only grafted trees came true to type, without knowing exactly why…

Here’s a snippet from a 19th Century gardening magazine – sounds like it might be interesting to try.

Here’s a C19th recipe for a grape-and-apple jam that seems to be good with all sorts of things.

A few chilly images of the Apprentice House orchard at Quarry Bank Mill in Styal.

Another round up of videos, this time explaining the best way to cut and store scion wood for grafting.

A rather interesting new series on cider apple varieties has just started on the ‘Turn Them All Into Cider’ blog.

Sowing apple pips to grow wilding trees? “Facile,” says Mr Evelyn. “Hold my cider”, says Mr Brennan.

Baked pum(p)kin and spiced apple deliciousness? What’s not to like?

A chance glance at a Tweet sparks hours of enjoyable research into old apple varieties and this very long-read piece.

It was a great idea in 1600 and it’s still a great idea in 2021: plant more orchards!

Have a blast at tree planting time with this time- and labour-saving suggestion from 1911.

This short video from The Orchard Project highlights the transformative power of community orchards.

A record of a rather superb (and rather under-unappreciated) gift to the Horticultural Society of London.

It’s the nineteenth century apple juice concoction that’s on everyone’s lips…

Four short videos, each explaining how best to plant your bare-root and/or potted fruit trees.

A new website promises to bring us the fascinating story of the apple over the next 18 months.

Wondering when might be the best phase of the Moone in which to plant your new apples trees?

The Museums Victoria Whatmough Collection contains some rather fruity items.

If you’re wondering what to plant in your half-acre plot, Mr Bunyard has a few suggestions.

The site now contains a set of pages of records of the trees we’re growing on our orchard allotment plot.

Looking for a handy checklist of fruit to plant before the month is out? Look no further.

An intro to Genetic diversity and clonal propagation, sixteenth century style.

A few pics, taken in haste before my fingers froze, on a bitterly cold January morning,.

Keith from @Stumpupfortrees has clearly done his homework on using tree guards when planting.

In which a few colour plates from an old plant catalogue leads to an hour’s worth of speculative detective work.

They seemed like such a nice bunch of folks when we met them at the 1921 orchard trade fair…

Here’s a recommended Twitter account for anyone interested in pomological artwork.

“To graf frute that shal have no core.” Clear. concise, sixteenth century instructions are provided.

Special offer fruit trees, anyone? Rail delivery as standard, postal service extra.

A few words of advice as true back in 1860 as they are today.

The recent UK-wide cold-snap will have been really good for our fruit trees – here’s why.

This sounds like a tasty twist on a traditional cider.

Are your pears unpleasing to Persons of Quality? Professor Bradley has the answer.

Turns out apple growing is a lot more straightforward than some folks make out…

It’s twelfth night – or one of them – which can mean only one thing in the orchard: Wassail!

Perishable fruit crop, you say? We have just the steam-powered thing…

A gentleman fructiculturists’s forthright opinions on pruning, delivered in 1913.

Thinking of buying a new orchard ladder? Here’s one to bear in mind.

A few words of wisdom from an orchard guide published back in 1906.

The Lindley Library’s celebration of heritage apples is well worth a look.

Top fruit harvest season is here, so it’s time for a guide to picking apples and pears the safe and careful way.

There are a few of the usual problems to keep an eye on in the orchard this year.

Fruit thinning is an essential operation to carry out to improve your chances of better quality fruit this year and more fruit buds next year.

2020 has been a rather excellent year for fruit blossom. Here’s a gallery of some examples I’ve seen in various places.

In which I try to work out whether I can justify the energy consumption needed to cook up a classic apple dessert…

A grey but dry and hugely enjoyable Sunday afternoon was well spent on helping to finish off this year’s winter pruning work.

Here’s how I went about the first phase of restorative pruning on a mature apple three that has been sadly neglected for a few years.

Here’s how I pruned three stepover trees on our allotment plot, leaving them until January rather than pruning in late summer as usually advised.

On a grey and drizzly afternoon I spent a happy few hours helping to winter prune a few of the trees in Holly Mount community orchard.

A review of Marcia Reiss’ social history of the apple, as told from a US-based perspective.

Improving the branch structure of an overgrown and crowded plum tree on our allotment plot.

Just when I thought the 2019 aphid night mare might have ended…

In which I attempt to save our damson from the ravages of an aphid infestation.

In which we remove the lower branches to create space for the tree’s owner to move around their garden.

A day of pruning tuition and practice at Platt Fields community orchard with the Orchard Project.

Preparing the ground for a 20-tree orchard on a derelict allotment plot.

Applying the Modified Lorette to our air-pot mini-orchard apple trees.

Thinning out weaker, surplus fruitlets helps to improve the size and quality of the final fruits.

A healthy display of blossom should hopefully mean a few fruits to enjoy later in the year.

In which we introduce our new fig tree to its fig-pit home.

In which we plant out our new fruit trees into air-pot containers.

Taking delivery of our fruit trees from the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale.

A review of Pete Brown’s new book on the social history and vital importance for the future of English orchards.