Apple and other fruit tree links

My web site remains in a greatly reduced state due to Yahoo pulling the plug, I will rebuild it ‘when I can find the time’ which in our house this harvest time with all my other undone jobs is a sick joke. February 2010 perhaps.

So I am posting the following APPLE AND FRUIT TREE LINKS here since so many people are asking us where they can get fruit trees including cider trees.

If you want to order any specific trees, especially cider apples, I suggest getting on with it ASAP since there is an increased interest and I know the nurseries are selling out. Also, one of the biggest, Scotts, has sadly just closed (see below) Its still a little too early to plant trees, but not to order them.

http://www.thornhayes-nursery.co.uk/ (Devon based nursery, many rare varieties including cider. Nice catalogue)

http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/ (highly reccommended, used by us with no complaints over 20 years)

http://www.deaconsnurseryfruits.co.uk/ (I got some vines from them once, good service, recommended by friends who have used them. Some cider trees)

http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk/ (largest collection of fruit varieties. I ordered a rare pear, Seckle, from them 2 years ago, as far as I could tell nobody else had this variety. Expensive, but please support them-if they go, it could all but signal the end for many rare fruit varieties)

http://www.bernwodeplants.co.uk/ (I've not used them, friends have and say they are good. great web site, specialise in less common varieties)

http://www.hedging.co.uk/ (Buckingham nurseries. We got all our hedging and woodland plants from them, good service always. They also do apple trees)

http://www.vigoltd.com/. This is the place to go for everything to do with making cider, they also have some books


http://www.commonground.org.uk/ (the Apple Day people. click on this and see if there is an Apple Day event near you, HURRY!)


VERY SAD NEWS

I am VERY sorry to say that Scott's nurseries of Merriot in Somerset are finally closing. They had been losing money to 'big name' plant salesmen whose outlets are easier to find, and the final blow came when a key member of the team sadly died of brain cancer aged 49. Obviously one feels very sad for him and his loved ones and the folks losing their jobs, but also for a priceless piece of English fruit heritage now apparently gone for ever. We got our original cider apples from them 20 years ago, plus perry pears (which are even harder to find) more recently. No longer available-they have had a couple of closing down sales and unless a buyer comes forwards for what's left in the next few days, according to a report I found in an online version of a local paper, the remaining stuff will be auctioned off.


This sad news just underlines the importance of looking after the rare old fruit varieties-apart from issues of beauty, history and heritage, we are going to need all the food plant genetic diversity we can hang on to with the hard times coming on the world.


But lets be cheerful and get on with it


All of the above sites are well worth a look. If you are thinking about planting fruit trees this winter, you had better make some decisions, do some research first. Remember, many mistakes can be made around planting fruit trees, but the worst mistake is not to do it.



PS thanks to everyone who visited our fruit stalls over the weekend, at Fareham on Saturday and Winchester Cathedral over the weekend. I have posted a YouTube of the cathedral bells and the market being set up. Check it out below.