Final plantings now completed!
The last of 50 new fruit trees has now been planted with the assistance of children from Archbishop Benson School.
A wide range of mainly West Country varieties have been used, particularly those hardy apple varieties suitable for this windswept site e.g. Scilly Pearl, Tregonna King, Tommy Knight, Hoary Morning and the evocatively named Nutmeg Pippin.
Plums have also been planted, together with a couple of Szechuan Pepper bushes and edible hedging. A hardy double-blossoming pear, Invincible, is an experiment!
Most of the old apple trees are beyond saving but Newton Wonder and Red Roller are still cropping a little.
About a third of the site is left to rough growth and ash/sycamore to shelter the local badgers and rabbits.
The orchard is completed by a Top Bar beehive and (almost) circular shelter hut.
Schoolchildren will next visit in blossom time during Spring 2012.
My thanks to Shane Kneebone of Cornish Appletrees for his invaluable help and advice.