Latest Posts

This nineteenth century peach of a recipe is guaranteed to add a bit of sparkle to your dinner party dessert course.

I’ve been shunning the standard advice and only winter pruning trained apple trees for three years now. Here’s how it’s going.

A recently published research paper has outlined some of the possible implications of climate change for orchard growers.

In the face of all the best advice to the contrary, I’ve decided to try growing a new apple variety or two from seed.

Here’s an eighteenth century recipe for boozy, sugary, fried apple fritters that sounds like sweet simplicity itself.

Here’s how I went about creating a ‘family’ apple tree of six varieties, using the rind grafting technique.

Got an old fruit tree that could do with a boost? Mr Bellingham has a suggestion, but you might not like it very much…

I’ve pruned two very different crab apples this year – here’s how I approached each one, and the results of the work.

Spring-time in the orchard and beautiful blossom buds are about to burst into life. So why is it such a tense and worrying time..?

Here’s a fool-proof dish of stewed fruit, sugar, cream and eggs from a nineteenth century collection of veggie recipes.

A new project at the University of Reading needs UK fruit tree owners’ help to record changing blossom patterns.

Last year our fig tree was hit by a late frost. Every apical bud and fruitlet was killed. But that was far from the end of the story…

How would you prefer your apples, Sir James? Why, in a straw-lined, paper-padded barrel. Obviously.

The best laid plans of orchardists also gang aft a-gley, especially if you don’t think your clever ideas through properly…

A dish of baked apples fit for an Empress. You’ll definitely need your sweet tooth for this recipe.

You’re looking for an ironwork espalier fruit tree training frame? But of course. We have two models, which would you prefer?

The whole race of apple-trees is threatened with extirpation? Quick, to the chemicals cupboard!

Here’s one late nineteenth century Professor’s criteria for apple perfection. Do you agree?

Here’s another selection of fruit-related stories from the Atlas Obscura archives.

This new book on orchard planning, establishment and management covers all the essential bases.

Words of wisdom here on how to keep youngsters out of mischief by teaching them the art of apple tree grafting.

A quick shout out for Christopher Monk’s take on a late fourteenth century quince recipe from The Forme of Cury.

A winter walk leads to the discovery of not one but two new orchards, one on the site of a former kitchen garden.

A very happy {insert holiday season of choice here} to Orchard Notes readers and fellow orchardists everywhere.

Here’s an eighteenth century twist on a seasonal classic, involving good winter pears and a pint of port.

This giant apple pie, served up with a quart of well-spiced ale, sounds like a recipe for my sort of Christmas feast.

Making medlar cheese and medlar jelly are great ways to get the best out of this unusual and tasty Autumn fruit. Here’s how.

Here are two versions of a biscuity, cobbler-like, stewed apple pudding from the early twentieth century.

I had a great time on Susan’s Urban Foresty Radio Show, talking heirloom fruit recipes with Brigitte Webster and Paul Couchman.

This festive season, give the gift of fruit trees to help enhance the environment for six urban communities ion the UK.

This syrupy, sugary baked apple dessert sounds simple enough to make, but could your teeth take the punishment?

We’ve had a mixed year on our allotment plot orchard. Here’s a round-up of the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

I’ll be talking heirloom fruit recipes with host Suzan Poizner and co-guests Brigitte Webster and Paul Couchman.

A few wise words on the benefits of serving fresh fruit and nuts at the dinner table, from the 1886 pen of Mrs Harland.

Here’s another entry from the cookery book of Mrs Mary J. Lincoln, this time helping to clear up a confusion of compôtes.

Here’s an idea for preserving your quince harvest, and maybe making quince flavoured cider at the same time.

This modern take on Thomas Dawson’s C16th recipe is a delicious combination of pears, candied orange, sugar and spice.

This sweetened, fruity soup, from a book of Austrian recipes, sounds like a perfect autumn warmer to me.

An interesting idea that still has potential, but mistakes (many mistakes) were made. Time to reboot.

Here’s a C18th recipe for a twisty toffee treat made from apples and sugar. just in time for Bonfire Night.

You’ll need a sweet tooth for this baked dessert of syrup-simmered apples topped with egg custard and meringue.

Here’s a delicious-sounding, rather boozy, spicy-sweet, early C18th recipe for baking and stewing Warden pears.

Here’s a simple but tasty-sounding method for slowly oven-baking pears… from a social history of Stuart-era Great Britain.

This panoramic overview of humanity’s relationship with fruit is a must-have for any pomological collection.

If it’s a fruit-pressing technological breakthrough that you’re looking for, you need look no further.

This nineteenth century ‘pudding’ recipe is really a fruity baked custard in disguise… still sounds delicious though.

Here’s a courtly recipe from sixteenth century Transylvania; an apple porridge fit for a Prince.

Here’s an intriguing pair of eighteenth century receipts for quince ‘cakes’ of the boiled, jellied gum-drop variety.

What’s an orchardist to do? It’s been a lean year for pears, not helped at all by the pointy beaks of the local wildlife.

A short but hugely informative book packed with juicy recipes and damson facts; a must-read for any damson fan.

How do you like your apple dumplings? Here are the simple-to-follow recipes for two Victorian-era options.

“Keepe cleane your vessels, and the places wheras your fruite doth lye” are wise words to make cyder by in any century.

Plus a potted history of the apple pie, from the fourteenth century to its ‘As American As…’ heyday.

These two rather Wonderous apples were harvested this week from the stepover tree on our allotment plot.

One of the most reliable fruits in the heritage orchard has a very long history and a very unique flavour.

Apples to store over winter? A few hundredweight of pit-sand, a kiln and several large jars to-hand? It’s your lucky day, isn’t it?

A nurseryman provides details of a common method for storing apples, pre-fridges.

In which I attempt to identify four unknown apple varieties – second opinions are very welcome!

Here’s a modern take on one of William Kitchiner’s apple recipes, courtesy of Ordsall Hall’s Head Gardener, Jo Green.

When it comes to perfect pears, practicing patience is the prudent path to proper picking.

Here are a few words of sixteenth century wisdom on the subject of managing your fruit harvest.

This eighteenth century method for drying greengages calls for candying your plum(b)s in syrup before setting them to dry.

Here’s a nineteenth century apple-based batter pudding, to warm you cockles and stick to your ribs on an Autumn evening.

A quick guide to spotting an unwanted lodger in that ripe, perfect-looking piece of fruit, *before* you bite into it…

This simple apple side-dish sounds like a tasty accompaniment to cheese, ham, or as Mrs Hill suggests: “hot or cold game”.

Spiced apple puree, sugar, eggs and cream, baked in a pastry case? It’s a nineteenth century apple quiche, surely?

Here’s why VGs is absolutely the best place in north Manchester / south Bury for fresh, seasonal, organic apples, bar none.

In which I apply a three-step apple i.d. process to see if I can find a match for these not-as-labelled apples.

Here’s Henry’s recipe for what amounts to a sweet, baked, pastry-less quiche, with spices and fried apple slices.

This nineteenth century recipe for a bread and butter / baked apple hybrid pudding sounds simple, substantial and rather tasty.

Wondering how to i.d. a mystery apple or pear variety? Here’s a guide to: doing it yourself, asking an expert, and DNA testing.

Here’s an eighteenth century method for making a condiment ingredient that would once have been a common element of many dishes.

Check out Mike Viney’s online collection of antique apple peeling / coring / slicing machinery.

This eighteenth century version of porridge definitely isn’t the porridge we know and love today, plumb or otherwise.

With harvest season starting, here’s a reminder of how to pick apples and pears without doing undue damage in the process.

In which I have a go at re-creating a historical orchard recipe for the first time… with rather delicious results.

Here’s a boozy, spicy version of an apple fritter recipe from Mrs Smith’s no-nonsense book of household management receipts.

Here’s a quick and easy Victorian-era recipe that combines two of my very favourite ingredients and then glazes them with a red-hot shovel.

Here’s a great way to make something warm, spicy and delicious out of all your under-ripe windfall apples.

This eighteenth century recipe for preserving green apples is a bit of a challenge to interpret, never mind attempt.

My favourite YouTube channel, Tasting History, takes a look at one of the Renaissance prophet’s kitchen favourites.

Atlas Obscura is a website of the world’s weird and wonderful stuff, and some of it is distinctly orchard flavoured.

The first apples of 2021 are ready for picking and in the Plot #79 orchard, that means it’s time for ‘Beauty of Bath’

With apple fruitlets a little on the small size, it was time to re-thin the pot-grown apple trees.

The fourth of this year’s Cotswold orchard visits takes in the orchard in the walled garden at the Museum in the Park in Stroud.

Excess apple loads can cause serious problems at this time of year; a leaning tree is one of the easier ones to remedy.

Here’s an eighteenth century take on a baked warden pear, with a dollops of apple jelly for an accompaniment.

This in-depth study of ‘warden’ cooking pears tells the fascinating story of a historical orchard staple.

Painswick Rococo Garden is an absolute delight for an orchard enthusiast, as I discovered on a visit in June 2021.

I’m seeing a lot of fruit-damage this year, both the classic damage caused by of codling moth larvae and beak-wounds from feathery foes.

Here’s an eighteenth century recipe for an iced pear tart that sounds simple to make and delicious to eat. Enjoy!

Here’s an eighteenth century recipe for another baked apple dish, although perhaps this is one you shouldn’t try at home…

A classic recipe from the archives today, for apples baked in wine and sugar, cooked in the oven until the tops are scorched.

Nothing is more likely to encourage people to eat a lovely, fresh apple than bringing Satan into the conversation…

Here are two recipes, one using almonds, for a dish of cold, congealed. flavourless mush… I’m really selling it, aren’t I?

A summer’s day in June was the perfect time to visit Hidcote’s orchards of mature, veteran and trained fruit trees.

Words of wisdom from a doyenne of the Boston Cooking School, published in 1891 and still, sadly, as true today as they were back then.

Here’s a late fifteenth century recipe for simple apple fritters coloured with saffron and spiced with pepper.

This 18th century recipe for a very simple staple – apple jelly – turned out to be typically not so simple to follow, unfortunately…

A quick, easy, C18th recipe for delicious-sounding apple fritters, brandy-soaked and fried to a golden-brown finish.