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There are few finer sights than an orchard of apple trees in blossom on a beautiful spring day. To celebrate this, we plan once more to hold a "blossom day" at Mosser. You will not be surprised to learn that picking a date for this has been a bit difficult. Six weeks ago, it looked like it might be quite early, but then the cold weather has held everything back. Now the forecast is to warm up so the blossom might develop quite quickly. The week beginning May 6th looks the most promising. Provisionally, I am going for an afternoon/evening event on Friday May 10th but, depending on the weather forecast and blossom development we might bring that forward to Monday May 6th (during the day, since it is a Bank Holiday).

Some notes about the event:

There are over 100 trees of over 40 varieties in my orchard, so plenty to see and talk about.

The event will be mainly a social occasion, but with an opportunity to

• discuss orchard management (including orchard floor management)
• consider the merits of different varieties in dealing with the Cumbrian climate
• buy some surplus trees left over from the Sawmills orchard plantings
• fettle your tools - secateur and scythe sharpening (& peening)

We might also be able to do a bit of late grafting, but I can't promise that at the moment.

There will be soup and bread available, as well as hot and cold (guess what) drinks, but may not be enough to go around, so please bring something appropriate to share.

Once the date is confirmed, the event will be opened for booking.

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The Annual General Meeting of the North Cumbria Orchard Group will take place from 4.30pm at the Hutton in the Forest tea room. All members are welcome but booking is essential (no charge) so we can arrange sufficient catering and seating. The formal agenda for the meeting will include reports from the officers and election of committee members. Two members of the Committee have decided not to seek re-election this year due to their personal circumstances. We will miss their valuable contributions and are keen that other members step forward to assist in the running of the Group. Any member is welcome on the Committee: should you wish to stand or just to learn more about the role, please contact Adam Bazire (secretary@ncorchards.co.uk), Sara Braithwaite (chairman@ncorchards.co.uk) or Mark Evens (treasurer@ncorchards.co.uk).

Following the formal business of the meeting there will be some short presentations bringing members up to date on some developments, and an opportuinty to ask questions.

Those who attended last year may recall that we had issues with the clarity of discussions. We have hired a pubilc address system and modified the layout for this year's event and are confident that the sound will be much better.

The AGM will be preceeded by a work party at the Sawmill Orchard. This is separately bookable and numbers are limited due to access and parking. Click here for details.

This event is bookable - see details and book

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Spring maintenance at Sawmill Orchard. Start at 2pm and finish by 4pm to allow arrival at Hutton Tea Room by 4.30 for the AGM.

Will include:

• Pruning of existing cordons
• Potential planting of further cordons
• Weed management
• Clearing of brash from tree maintenance
• ***SPECIAL OFFER*** there is some wood suitable for burning (after drying) available at the orchard following some recent tree work. This is available free to anyone participating in the work party.

Meet at the orchard, which can be found at:

• Google maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Bpg7eb1M3xGLFNcH6
• What 3 words: https://w3w.co/skips.arrive.optimists
• Ordnance Survey: NY 460 347

Please wear clothing appropriate to the weather and tasks, and bring secateurs and spade/fork if you have them plus whatever refreshments you want. Note that there are NO TOILET FACILITIES at the orchard.

Booking is required to manage numbers but there is no charge.

This event is bookable - see details and book

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After planting the cordons at the 'Sawmills' orchard, we have a few trees left over. The varieties available, numbers (and rootstock, where known) are given below. Please 'book' how many you want and specify your variety preference. There might be some minor changes to the list so apologies in advance for any disappointment. The price is £10 each, assuming they are in reasonable condition.

You will be able to collect on 'Blossom day' or at the Sawmills work party on May 26th. If you can't make either of those events, then let me know.

This is the original list (with those reserved struck-through), however, it looks like Crawley Beauty may not be available and those marked with a ? may be missing. There are others that have been located and are given in the 'additional list':

Winter Gem 106
Ida Red
Golden Delicious 106
Meridian 106 ?
Crawley Beauty 106
Merton Beauty 106 ?
Spartan 106
Tydeman’s Late Orange 106
Crispin M26
2 x Grenadier 106
Jonagold M26 ?
Duke of Devonshire
Limelight
Yorkshire Cockpit
Fiesta 106
Jupiter 106
Gloriana 106 ?
Greensleeves 106 ?
Jester

Additional list:

Yellow Ingrestrie

Domino

Pine golden Pippin

White Transparent

Pitmaston Pine Apple

Winter Gem

Gravenstein

Coul Blush

Where no rootstock is given, it is most likely to be MM106, but this can't be guaranteed.

This event is bookable - see details and book