“Pears like districts where there is an equable temperature and a large expanse of water does ensure less liability to frost in the spring when the blossoms are out. Pears do well, for instance along the Medway valley, and in the Swale Estuary in Kent.”
The author of this observation, W. Shewell Cooper, the amateur gardening [...]
Archive for August, 2007
Brogdale – Perfect Spot for the National Fruit Collections
Posted in Brogdale, National Fruit Collections on August 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Herefordshire Cherries – ‘Taste The Difference?’
Posted in Articles on August 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Cherry production in this country is a sad story. Total production is only around 1,000 tonnes. In 1994 it was 3,500 tonnes, and since 1951 the area under Cherries has fallen from 7,500 hectares to 380. Around 20,000 tonnes (worth £41 million) are imported. Fortunately there are enthusiastic cherry growers bucking the national trend, and [...]
Does the Trust have any right to be involved with relocating the Collections?
Posted in Brogdale, National Fruit Collections on August 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
There seems no doubt that both the Brogdale Horticultural Trust and MAFF, now Defra, regarded Brogdale as the permanent site for the National Fruit Collections in 1990 when the Trust bought the site and in 2000 when it was sold to Hillreed. That was the position taken when the Friends of Brogdale constitution was drafted. [...]
Pear details please?
Posted in Fruit Questions on August 19, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Does anyone have any information on the Belle de Jumet pear?
Caryn Lacey
Belle de Jumet
Apple Day: 21 October
Posted in News on August 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Apple Day will be celebrated for the 18th time this year. Since running the first on October 21st 1990 it has been Common Ground’s intention to encourage the popular creation of a calendar custom around which all aspects of orchards and local distinctiveness can cling.
In what ways has Apple Day been useful in broadening and [...]
U-Turn over Brogdale by Brogdale Horticultural Trust
Posted in Brogdale, National Fruit Collections, News on August 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In both 1990 and 2000 Brogdale Horticultural Trust successfully argued that the National Fruit Collections should be kept at Brogdale.
Yet in 2007 Brogdale Horticultural Trust admitted that in its Defra bid it had proposed moving the National Fruit Collection from Brogdale. At the Special General Meeting of Friends of Brogdale in April 2007 the Trust [...]
Laxton Orchards – information please?
Posted in Fruit Questions on August 14, 2007 | 1 Comment »
I am starting a botanical illustration project on the Laxton orchards in Bedford and would really like any information relating to this. I am planning to illustrate certain varieties but would really like any information.
Teri Gipson
Open Letter to Brogdale Horticultural Trust – Trustees and Friends
Posted in Brogdale, National Fruit Collections, News on August 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
‘BETRAYED’, so accused the banner headline in the Faversham Times of 24 May 2007. This charge made against the Trust is one with which I agree; and is the reason why I have withheld, for the time being, my £25 sub to the Friends of the Brogdale Horticultural Trust, due on 6 August – [...]
The New Defra Tender
Posted in Brogdale, National Fruit Collections, News on August 7, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Following a surprise announcement last Friday, 3 August, Defra reissued the tender for management of the National Fruit Collections, having declared all the bids to the previous tender unsatisfactory. (See new Defra Tender)
For those of us who want the Collections to remain at Brogdale, this would seem a welcome temporary victory, but there is no respite. [...]
Petition to Keep Collections at Brogdale
Posted in Brogdale, National Fruit Collections, News on August 6, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Friends of National Fruit Collections at Brogdale have launched a Petition to keep the Collections at Brogdale and sent their first batch of signatures to Defra last week. We collected over 400 signatures during the Brogdale Cherry and Strawberry Festival and these have been fowarded to Hilary Benn and Lord Rooker.
The Petition is ongoing and [...]
