Every year about this time, The English Apple Man visits Chris Hunt, an old friend for a tour of his Cider orchards in bloom
We are both in our early/mid 80's and turning the clock back 55 years, his father John and my father Jack were both growers and packers of the finest English apples which they supplied to a market stall in Spitalfields Market in London.
At that period of time, we supplied McCloud McCombe in Spitalfields Market (the old market) along with John Hunt a fruit grower in East Sussex and 'Dan Neuteboom from Suffolk. In 1970 Spitalfields celebrated its 50 years since 1920 the City of London acquired direct control of the market, extending the original buildings eight years later. For the next 60 years, Spitalfields' nationwide reputation grew, as did the traffic congestion in the narrow streets around it.
We were invited by Norman & George McCombe to the 1970 celebrations.
'We' being Mum & Dad, me and my wife. There we met for the first time Dan Neuteboom by now making a name for himself as one of the most progressive young apple growers in England.
Hunts Cider
With more than 100 varieties on the farm; some (Long Ashton trial varieties) only as a single tree; cider apple varieties such as Harry Masters Jersey, Dabinett, Coat Jersey, Kingston Black, Brown's Apple, Ashton Bitter, Michelin, Yarlington Mill, Chisel Jersey, Vilberie and Brown Snout, plus many other lesser known varieties make it possible to create an eclectic mix of ciders.
Thursday 8th May VE Day, I joined Chris and we made our 'Annual blossom drive' in his Buggy around more than 50 acres of Cider trees in bloom.
Below: Beautiful Dabinett cider apple blossom
Below: More beautiful blossom
Below: left. Bluebelles in the areas of woodland and right. Bee hives strategically placed in woodland
Below: Panoramic view from one side of farm to trees on opposite bank
Below: left. a young Cider tree and right. many of the new/young Cider trees in grass/wildflower meadows
Below: As we tour the cider orchards, Chris points out the Buzzards circling over head
Below A relatively new orchard close to Chris and James (son) houses designed to accommodate the 'resident deer' in the area. The main area of Cider orchards are protected with strong fencing ensuring the young cider trees are safe from the Deer, but this area is set up to allow Deer freedom and Chris and family the opportunity to observe these beautiful creatures grazing, especially in the early morning
Below: Beyond the new orchard, a wooded area, which is an old orchard left to nature, now overwhelmed by natural tree species
After our tour of the farm, we enjoyed coffee and biscuits in the garden with Hazel (Chis wife) and reminisced over the journey we both had led over the years. In 1996 Chris faced a life threatening challenge when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Facing an uncertain future Chris stopped spraying his trees with pesticides; and no sprays have been used on the farm since!
The farm is now a well established haven of nature. Within the orchards 'nature prevails' Chis explains, many pests live within the orchards, for example Apple Blossom Weevil which can be a serious problem in conventional orchards, but is contained by the natural predators in the plethora of 'pest and predator' in the orchard environment.
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man
