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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.

A short post with photos to demonstrate the benefits of removing excess fruitlets. (Again with the fruit thinning..!)

If your fruit trees aren’t carrying much fruit after an amazing harvest in 2020 then don’t worry, it’s quite natural.

In June 2021 I visited the orchards at Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire and here are my impressions.

Here’s a deliciously simple recipe for making a classic fruit and cream dessert that you’d be foolish not to try yourself.

Here’s a seventeenth century knight of the realm’s recipe for a sweet and spicy apple conserve to spread on your toast.

My twitter-buddy Barry’s article on the history of Pomonas and their origins in cider and perry production is well worth a read.

Here’s a brief taster of four orchards that I visited in early June (longer write-ups to follow in due course).

This eighteenth century recipe calls for pippins, dried fruit, sugar, eggs and plenty of booze.

Another dose of apple canker, this time on a cordon tree and with an even more drastic remedy required.

Now is a the best time to hand-thin apple fruitlets, particularly on smaller trees and definitely on any that are growing in pots.

This eighteenth century recipe is for making what sounds like a plum-based version of a Pontefract cake.

As leaves start to grow on your top-fruit trees it’s a good time to check your grafted plants for unwanted rootstock bud-break.

Christmas pudding, eat your heart out… Georgiana Hill has a year-round combustible dessert recipe for all occasions.

This fascinating book delves into the rich symbiotic relationship between trees and the fungal networks that sustain and nourish them.

Pruning apple at this point in the season isn’t usually advised, but sometimes you have to cut to control a problem.

We’ve had a really good year for blossom in the back garden, with crab apple ‘John Downie’ putting on a splendid display.

Another medieval fruit pudding for you, this time a concoction of figs, ale and breadcrumbs, spiced with cinnamon.

Spring 2021 has brought blossom, but also pest and physiological problems in Ordsall Hall’s heritage pear trees

Enjoy this selection of photos of the Hall’s heritage pear trees in full bloom a couple of weeks ago.

And what do those big profits require? A big investment in a big juice pressing machine…

This slight, slender volume is… okay, but there are much better alternatives in print.

This recipe for a quinces and almond milk dessert of some sort could take longer to decipher than to prepare…

A shout out for Steven Edholm’s superb SkillCult blog, where he’s been offering grafting advice and talking about his apple breeding project.

I’ve started putting together an index page of the archive recipes that I’m posting on the site.

In part one of this article I explore the detailed story of the dried, pressed apple dessert known as the ‘Norfolk Biffin’.

Susan’s rather lovely poem perfectly captures the orchardist’s winter frustration and the anticipation of spring.

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.