MMAA Orchard

As part of our communal food growing efforts we have begun a community orchard. There is plenty of scope to expand the existing stock of apple, pear and plum trees. We plan to add more varieties of each to enable us to pick fruit through as long a period as possible. Perhaps some of our commemorative planting will be in this area. It would be great to grow some of the less well known fruits such as mulberries and quinces and so give people a chance to try them.

Donations of soft fruit such as raspberry canes, strawberries, currant bushes and rhubarb crowns will be very welcome to add to the black and white currants which have been planted in this first phase. The produce will be sold to local people at affordable prices, possibly through a weekly allotment stall sponsored by Staveley Town Council. The fruit would also be a welcome addition to a weekly box scheme, if one can be developed from the community plots. Perhaps a local jam maker will donate their time and skill to help us to make as good use as possible of these crops. We will have the crab apples, all we need is the jelly maker! Any funds raised from the sale of produce will go towards helping to maintain and improve the site.

Species	Common Name	Description	Uses	Fruiting time
Malus ' John Downie '	Ornamental Crab Apple	Bright orange scarlet, conical fruit of refreshing flavour. Excellent for jelly	Culinary	Oct - Nov
Prunus
'Lane's Prince Albert'	Apple	Compact, dome shaped. Crop well, large green fruit striped red. Bred since 1857	Culinary	Dec - March
'Bramley's Seedling'	Apple	Supreme culinary variety. Large green friuts with red flush. Very high vitamin content. Bred since 1876	Culinary	Nov - April
'James Grieve'	Apple	Prolific cropper, richly flavoured. Pale yellow skin, flushed crimson. Bred since 1890	Desert & culinary	Sept - Oct
'Discovery'	Apple	Trouble free. Crisp, juicy fruits, bright crimson with yellow backing. Bred since 1962	Desert	July - September
'Fiesta'	Apple	An offspring of 'Cox'. Sweet, juicy, bright red fruit	Desert	October - March
'Victoria'	Plum	Excellent flavour & large crop. Self fertile. Bred since 1840	Desert & culinary	September
'Greengage'	Plum	Small, round, delicious flavoured fruit	Desert	August - September
'Conference'	Pear	Easy to grow & excellent flavour. Long, handsome yellow/ russet fruit. Bred since 1894	Desert	Oct - Nov
'Williams Bon Chretien'	Pear	A famous pear with rich musky flavour. Long, yellow fruit tinged red. Bred since 1770	Desert	August - September
'Morello'	Cherry	Dark red cooking variety, acid flavour. Self fertile	Culinary	July - Sept
'Stella compact'	Cherry	Black cherries, delicious flavour. Universal pollinator. A recent introduction	Desert & culinary	July - August
Morus alba	White mulberry	Sweet fruits when ripe	Desert & culinary	August - September
Mespilus 'germanica'	Medlar	Pick the brown skinned fruit & store for 1 month. An unusual desert or use as a jelly with meat & game	Desert & culinary	Oct - Nov
'Vranja'	Quince	Yellow flesh has a good, rather acid flavour. Good for flavouring, jams & jelly	Culinary	August - September
Ficus carica 'Brown Turkey'	Fig	Heavy crop of medium sized, oval brown to purple figs. Deep red flesh, very sweet. The best outdoor variety. Bred since 1880	Desert	September
'Prune Damson'	Damson	Large, deep purple fruit, choice flavour. Bred since pre 1834	Desert & culinary	September
tbc	Gooseberry		Desert & culinary	August - September
tbc	Blackberry		Desert & culinary	August - October

ORCHARD

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