The English Apple Man has been 'Multi Tasking' this week as we will be moving house next week.
All those last minute jobs before the removal van arrives next Tuesday + a visit to Wakehurst Place on Wednesday this week, where, with my colleagues at The National Fruit Show we will be taking this year's Show Fruit to the Millenium Seedbank Building at Wakehurst Place on Saturday & Sunday 20th & 21st October.
Wakehurst Place is the 'most visited' National Trust site and home to the Millenium Seedbank.
See below a quote from The Wakehurst website;
"By 2020, our aim is to secure the safe storage of seed from 25% of the world's plants. We target plants and regions most at risk from climate change and the ever-increasing impact of human activities. We also save the seeds of the world's plant life faced with the threat of extinction, and those that could be of most use in the future".
On Saturday 20th October 'The Great Seed Swap' event will be taking place in the Millenium Seedbank Building. The Festival of British Fruit will be sharing the Orange Room with enthusiastic seed 'swappers' creating an exciting 'double attraction' for visitors to Wakehurst Place.
Below a scene from the 2011 Festival of British Fruit at Harrogate in Yorkshire. This year The Festival will entertain visitors to The Millenium Seedbank Building at Wakehurst Place on 20th & 21st October.
WHAT ENGLISH APPLES & PEARS CAN WE FIND IN OUR SUPERMARKETS THIS WEEK?
The English Apple Man has been promoting the importance of Supermarket Value Packs as a means of helping consumers and apple growers make the most of this seasons weather affected crop.
A recent feature on BBC News dealt with this issue in a visit to Andrew Jackson's 'Man of Ross' farm near Ross on Wye in Herefordshire. The West Midlands has been the region most affected by the 'summer of 2012' and Andrew informs the interviewer that his crop this year only represents 20% of his normal yield.
A visit to Waitrose on Tuesday demonstrated their support for English Apples & Pears with Cox, Gala, Egremont Russet, Worcester Pearmain, Early Windsor, Bramley and Conference Pears on display. Weather Blemished Apples on display were Worcester Pearmain and Gala @ £2 a pack ( 8 apples with a gross weight of 1kg ) In Sainsburys; Cox & Gala integral to the end display; pick any two items for £2.50 (individual packs at £2). Early Windsor also still available and part of this offer.
Pictured below Left; A pack of Waitrose Weather Blemished Gala. On the right; the small defects caused by the weather will not detract from the eating quality.
Sainsburys English Gala and Red Dessert (Early Windsor) packs are part of the end of aisle 2 for £2.50 offer.
From a Tesco perspective the winter range hit the stores on Monday, with so much more space given to apples and pears at the expense of summer fruit.
New season Cox is 'up & running' Gala - looks and tastes great. Bramley; with colder weather approaching its time to get out the recipe book.
Scrumptious has been in Finest but will finish this week; Spartan has been in store since last week.
New Range Best of British 4 pack launched on Monday last - with Red Windsor which will be followed with Red Falstaff in circa two weeks time.
Egremont Russet has been in store since last week and Conference Pears are looking particularly good; Tesco Orchard Selection has Concorde in 4 packs.
Cultivated by a Worcestershire fruit tree specialist, the apples, named Raspberry Ripple to reflect their unusual appearance, hit the shelves at three branches of Tesco on Monday.
The supermarket giant hopes trial sales of the "stunning" apple at three sites in London - including its Kensington Superstore - will pave the way for its introduction across a wider area next year.
The naturally-occurring variety was discovered by chance growing in an orchard near Hereford nine years ago and has been developed by Tenbury Wells-based fruit tree nursery Frank Matthews Ltd.
Although trees yielding a different variety of red-fleshed apple have been available in the UK since 2010 from a Devon-based seed company, no red-fleshed varieties have previously been available through supermarkets.
Frank Matthews' owner, Nick Dunne, said: "When I first saw the red flesh I thought right away that this could be big news in the apple industry and that has been borne out by the interest we are now getting from growers around the country.
"Tesco will have the first batch to ever go on sale in the UK and we hope that if they are well received by shoppers that we could establish the variety as a top-seller very soon."
Hailing Raspberry Ripple as a fantastic addition to Tesco's existing range of 21 British apple varieties, the supermarket's apple buyer, Gill Getty, said: "Not only do they look amazing but, as the name implies, they have a hint of a raspberry flavour to add to their generally tangy, sweet flavour.
"There are very limited amounts of these apples as this is the first year that they have been commercially grown, but if shoppers like them then we will have plenty for next year."
CAMEO CLUB.
Last week The English Apple Man joined growers and technologists at Nigel Bardsley's River Farm at Staplehurst in Kent for a pre-season meeting of Cameo Club members. Cameo has been part of the English Apple calendar before the emergence of Jazz, Kanzi and Rubens.
After many a year without any new variety making a lasting impact on the English Apple portfolio, a new candidate seems to appear almost annually.
Cameo is without doubt a very good eating apple, and has an excellent storage life; so good that it has the capability to store and deliver a good eating experience beyond the end of the 'normal' English season.
If there is a concern, it is the consistency of the product when measured against the trailblazers; Jazz, Kanzi & Rubens. What we saw at Nigel Bardsley's was an orchard management approach which delivers the consistency of product capable of challenging the best of the new varieties.
Nigel Bardsley has embraced mechanical pruning and fruit walls as a means of creating a more balanced tree; Nigel emphasises the use of mechanical pruning is not about cutting pruning costs (although that may be a side benefit) but delivering the balanced tree which will produce high quality apples consistently.
Brian Thompsett, Bardsley's Farm Manager gave us an interesting review of the background to their Cameo fruit wall system; the use of the Darwin mechanical blossom thinner to reduce thinning costs was the precursor to mechanical pruning.
The benefit of using the Darwin was more than just a reduction in thinning costs. The fruit from these trees delivered higher sugars and firmer fruit. The physiology of the fruit is influenced by thinning early; it is well known from trials at East Malling Research many years ago that when fruit is thinned early, e.g. when the fruitlets are small (circa 12mm) the textural quality of the fruit is superior to fruit thinned later in the season.
By thinning the blossom with the Darwin, this benefit is enhanced further. In addition, thinning costs were reduced by 53%.
The positive results encouraged larger scale use of the Darwin. It soon became apparent that for optimum use, a narrow tree shape would improve the efficacy of the Darwin. With experience of seeing fruit walls in Belgium, Brian decided to further evaluate the fruit wall system and in February 2011 using a hand held hedge cutter established trees were converted into the 'narrow' fruit walls with a width of 80 cm at the base of the tree and 40 cm at the upper level. This action created the basic 'fruit wall' structure.
The next course of action was to make a 'summer cut' when the new growth was at the 6-8 leaf stage
Finding the optimum time to make the pruning cut in summer is a very important aspect of conversion to a 'fruit wall' management system. Brian has experimented with a variety of stages when the pruning took place. This is largely inspired by taking note of information from Europe where different timings have been tried, and trialing the 'probables' in English orchards. We must remember that each variety may respond differently and certainly Brian has found Cameo responds well to mechanical pruning.
Mechanical Orchard Pruning Machine.
English Apple Man readers will be familiar with my visit to the HDC trials at Adrian Scripps Parsonage Farm in late August.
The key objective is to make the cut when it influences the shoot behind the cut to produce fruit bud instead of vegetative growth. This not only delivers quality fruit bud on which the future crops will depend, but stops the tree from making excessive growth. Nigel Bardsley explained that Cameo responds very well to mechanical pruning and will produce a balance of short shoots (Dards) with terminal buds developing as fruit bud for the next season.
SWEET SENSATION PEARS
English Apple Man readers may remember the Sweet Sensation pear orchard being planted in 2011; see Journal for 1st July 2011 now, 9 months later the first Sweet Sensation have been picked.
The pictures below were taken by Francis Wheatley - Technical Director for A.G.Thames who partner East Malling Research in this ambitious enterprise.
Three Year Fruit Apprenticeships!
A REPEAT from last week's Journal
English Apple Man readers will be familiar with my interest in apprenticeships for the fruit industry and on 16th October Hadlow College will be celebrating the new Three Year Fruit Apprenticeship with a formal launch; In order to maximise the impact this initiative deserves, the identity of sponsors, employers and apprentices has been kept a closely guarded secret!
All will be revealed @ The Hadlow College - Animal Management Unit (Lecture Theatre), Ashes Lane, Hadlow, Kent TN11 0AN (Parking plentiful) see FLYING THE FLAG for full details if any potential sponsors, apprentices or growers are interested in attending, I am assured you will be welcome. BUT PLEASE R.S.V.P. to Pat Crawford @ Hadlow College.
The importance of attracting bright young candidates into the fruit industry cannot be underestimated. The opportunity for a fulfilling career in the fruit industry has not been better for several decades. The UK top fruit industry is gaining strength 'year on year' and the soft fruit industry has been transformed over the last 15 years with protected cropping of Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries leading the way. UK Cherries are rapidly catching up with many new orchards of exciting modern varieties grown on more precocious rootstocks and now largely under protected covers.
The promise of a rewarding career in the fruit sector, financially as well as in job satisfaction, should be considered seriously by any young person who fancies a career in a dynamic expanding industry.
Too often it appears Careers Masters discourage young people from seeking a career in Horticulture, particularly food based horticulture, but with UK 'Food Security' becoming ever more important, driven by Global demand as emerging economies in Asia seek a more diverse diet, there is no doubt a career in all forms of UK food production horticulture will become increasingly attractive.
SO; IF YOU ARE A POTENTIAL SPONSOR, GROWER OR APPRENTICE - GET ON THE BANDWAGON ASAP!
On a local theme, the 3 apples below were grown by my friends Matthew & Carole Wilson on their Organic farm at Robertsbridge in East Sussex.
From the left; King of the Pippins. Cox Orange Pippin. William Crump.
King of the Pippins is a medium size, orange-red flush on greenish yellow gold background. Firm, crisp, juicy apple. When cooked keeps its shape and colour, so perfect for open tarts. Also used for cider. Origin; UK or France 19th Century.
Cox Orange Pippin. England's most famous dessert apple. The original Cox with all the qualities expected from the finest flavoured apple in the world. With an Orange flush over greenish-yellow background colour. The deep cream flesh has a sweet aromatic flavour. Originates from Bucks. A chance seedling it was discovered by Richard Cox in the 19th Century.
William Crump is a Cox's Orange Pippin x Worcester Pearmain cross. Green-yellow with red stripes and orange-red flush.Rich, intense and aromatic mellowing to Cox flavour. Originates from Worcester circa 1910.
Trees of all three of these varieties can be purchased from F.P. Matthews Nursery.
With our house move in progress next week, I have no idea what will be the 'centre piece' in next Friday's Journal; "possibly a retail roundup of the main Supermarkets"
Take care
The English Apple Man
