Scotland's charity for traditional orchards
We’re supporting the Scottish Scything Festival at Blackhaugh Community Farm near Auchterarder, Perthshire. This is the inaugural Scottish event (as far as we are aware).
Why? Scythes are a great way to manage the orchard floor. They are much less damaging to invertebrate life than a rotary mower. And faster (and quieter) than a strimmer. Plus they keep you fit and healthy!
https://blackhaughcommunityfarm.weebly.com/scythe-festival.html
By Philipp Reiner from unsplash.com
Last updated 09 Feb 2017
Since our collection of Scottish Apple Day events last year turned out to be so popular, we thought it may be useful to put together a list of Scottish New Year orchard wassails.
Wassailing is an age-old tradition of toasting good health of people and fruit trees on the 12th night after Christmas. Historic UK tells us that in the case of the latter: “The wassailing, or blessing of the fruit trees, involves drinking and singing to the health of the trees in the hope that they will provide a bountiful harvest in the autumn. This ancient custom is still practiced across the country today, and is particularly popular in the cider-producing areas of England.”
Recently, orchard wassails have been undergoing a bit of a revival as they are a great midwinter event to brighten up community orchard social calendars alongside, now firmly established, autumn Apple Days. In Scotland, Greener Kirkcaldy has been one of the groups leading this revival, with a well established annual wassail at the Community Orchard at their Ravenscraig Walled Garden. Their blog post from last year gives us a nice rundown of the tradition here.
Singing to your orchard trees is an essential part of a proper Wassail and Jane Lewis is running a singing workshop at Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh at the end of the month to help any novices. We have heard that there are some great new, local Scottish tunes included alongside the more traditional Somerset materials!
Below is the list of events we have compiled so far – please let us know about any others!
| Date | Town – Area | Event name | Organisation | Link to event info |
| 14-Jan-2017 | Cupar – Fife | Sustainable Cupar Wassail | Sustainable Cupar | Click here for more info |
| 14-Jan-2017 | Stirling – Stirlingshire | Apple pruning and wassailing | Transition Stirling | Click here for more info |
| 15-Jan-2017 | Jedburgh – The Borders | Crailing Community Orchard Wassail | Crailing Community Orchard | Click here for more info |
| 20-Jan-2017 | Buckhaven – Fife | First Apple Tree Wassail | CLEAR Buckhaven | Click here for more info |
| 21-Jan-2017 | Kirkcaldy – Fife | Traditional Apple Wassail | Greener Kirckaldy | Click here for more info |
| 21-Jan-2017 | Edinburgh | Gracie Winter Warmer | Gracemount Grow Stronger | Click here for more info |
| 21-Jan-2017 | Edinburgh | Wassailing song workshop with Jane Lewis | Scottish Storytelling Centre and Scotland Sings | Click here for more info |
| 3-Feb-2017 | Edinburgh | Apple Wassail Celebration | North Edinburgh Arts | Click here for more info |
| 4-Feb-2017 | Glasgow | Food Forest Wassail | Alexandra Park Food Forest and Helping Britain Blossom | Click here for more info |
| 12-Feb-2017 | Tayport – Fife | Family Fruit Tree Walk Wassail | PLANT | Click here for more info |
Gavin about to don his bee-keeping suit under an ancient pear tree at Megginch
UPDATE 27 Sep 2017: Please note that as of September 2017 a new local facilitator has been appointed to coordinate surveys in this area. For details please see here.
Crispin was over to Megginch Castle near Errol recently to meet with the Local Facilitation team of Gavin Ramsay and owner Catherine Drummond-Herdman of Carse of Gowrie Orchards (previously known as Carse of Gowrie Group‘s Historic Orchard Forum). We spent some time reviewing the process and organisation aspects of carrying out the Orchard Inventory in the area. That area stretches right around the Tay from Invergowrie to Perth and then back down to Abernethy and the borders of Newburgh in Fife. The extent of the area was indicated by the Tay Landscape Partnership who we’ve been collaborating with and who are co-funding the local fieldwork.
After our meeting in the castle kitchen, Crispin and Gavin had a walk around the orchard. Gavin to look over some of his hives, and Crispin to see the progress on Catherine’s great restoration project – replanting hundreds of fruit trees. It really looked fantastic, and the plums tasted good!
Similarly to the Clyde Valley, Carse of Gowrie is one of the historically important areas for traditional orchards in Scotland and it would be wonderful to see it come back to life in due course. You can read more about history of their orchards in Crispin’s paper ‘Ancient Orchards beside the River Tay’ (PDF 900kb).
Historic Orchard Forum will be starting their surveys very soon so if you would like to volunteer, contact Gavin via email at gavinramsay
LAST UPDATED: 29 Sep 2016
We are entering a rather exciting time of the year for the orchard community. Over September and October there is lots to harvest and even more to celebrate! We thought we’d make it easier for everyone to get involved by collecting information on Apple Days and related harvest celebrations around Scotland.
Our lovely new volunteer, Lesley Anderson, has started collecting the information last week and below we provide a summary of what she’s collated to date. We know that the list barely scratches the surface of what’s out there so please contact Kaska on animateur@scotlandthefruit.org.uk to make sure that your event is included.
It is so great to see so much celebration gathering momentum around Scottish orchards! We will be joining in at the Fruit Festival in Perth on the 8th of October so please come and say hello!
If you happen to be south of the border, People’s Trust for Endangered Species has what looks like a very comprehensive list of Apple Days for England and Wales here.
| Date | Town -Area | Event name | Organisation | Link to event info |
| 10-Sep-2016 | Dunkeld – Perthshire | Big Apple Day | Dunkeld and Burnam Community Orchard | Click here for more info |
| 14-Sep-2016 | Edinburgh | Holyrood Apple Day | Scottish Fruit Trees | Click here for more info |
| 17-Sep-2016 | Carnoustie – Angus | Barry Mill Apple Day | Barry Mill | Click here for more info |
| 17-Sep-2016 | Bo’ness -Falkirk | Roman in The Orchard – Family Fun Afternoon | Forth Enviroment Link/ Friends of Kinneil Orchard Group | Click here for more info |
| 17-Sep-2016 | Resolis -Black Isle | Apple Juicing at Resolis Country Show | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 17-Sep-2016 | North Kessock -Black Isle | Apple Juicing at North Kessock Market | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 24-Sep-2016 | Pitmedden – Aberdeenshire | Apples & Cornkisters | National Trust For Scotland | Click here for more info |
| 24-Sep-2016 | North Kessock -Black Isle | Apple Juicing at North Kessock Market | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 25-Sep-2016 | Resolis -Black Isle | Grow North Workshop: Fruit care | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 25-Sep-2016 | Rosyth – Fife | Apple pressing at the Rosyth Market | EATS Rosyth | Click here for more info |
| 25-Sep-2016 | Buckhaven, Fife | Open Day and Apple Pressing | CLEAR Buckhaven | Click here for more info |
| 1-Oct-2016 | Newburgh – Fife | Apple Market | Newburgh Orchard Group | Click here for more info |
| 1-Oct-2016 | Fochabers – Moray | Apple & Chilli Day | Gordon Castle Walled Garden | Click here for more info |
| 1-Oct-2016 | Forres – Moray | Harvest Festival | Newbold Trust | Click here for more info |
| 1-Oct-2016 | Crossford – South Lanarkshire | Clyde Valley Fruit Day | Clyde Valley Orchard Cooperative and Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership | Click here for more info |
| 2-Oct-2016 | Edinburgh | Apple Day | Royal Botanic Garden with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society | Click here for more info |
| tbc October | Newburgh – Fife | Apple Day | Newburgh Orchard Group | Click here for more info (details to be confirmed) |
| 5-Oct-2016 | Cyrenian’s Farm, Kirknewton- West Lothian | If Life Gives You Apples…celebrating apples and how they can generate income | Growing Together | Click here for more info |
| 8-Oct-2016 | Haddington East Lothian | Amisfield Garden Apple day | Amisfield Walled Garden | Click for more info here |
| 8-Oct-2016 | Cromarty -Black Isle | Apple Juicing at Cromarty Market | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 8-Oct-2016 | Harestanes -Borders | Apple Day | Borders Organic Gardeners | Click here for more info |
| 8-Oct-2016 | Perth – Perthshire | Fruit Festival | Tay Landscape Partnership | Click here for more info |
| 8-9-Oct-2016 | St Andrews – Fife | Autumn Festival | St Andrews Botanic Garden | Click here for more info |
| 9-Oct-2016 | Harestanes – Borders | Apple Day | Borders Organic Gardeners | Click here for more info |
| 9-Oct-2016 | Comrie – Perthshire | Apple Day | Comrie Development Trust | Click here for more info |
| 12 October 2016 | Glasgow | Gorbals Apple Day | Rose Garden Orchard and Helping Britain Blossom | Click here for more info |
| 15-Oct-2016 | Coupar-Angus – Angus | Apple Pressing Day | Forward Coupar Angus and Coupar Angus Food and Growing Projects | Click here for more info |
| 15-Oct-2016 | Culbokie – Black Isle | Apple Juicing at Ferintosh Market | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 15-Oct-2016 | Coldstream – Scottish Borders | Garden Cottage Open Day | Red Shed Nursery | Click here for more info |
| 15-Oct-2016 | Livingston -West Lothian | Apple Day at Bellsquarry Wood | Woodlland Trust | Click here for more info |
| 15-Oct-2016 | Tayport – Fife | Ferryport Fruitfest | PLANT and Tayport Community Trust | Click here for more info |
| 15-Oct-2016 | Kirckaldy – Fife | Apple Day at Ravenscraig Walled Garden | Greener Kirckaldy | Click here for more info |
| 22-Oct-2016 | Dundee | Community Harvest | Dundee Urban Orchards and Dundee Botanic Garden | Click here for more info |
| 22-Oct-2016 | Auldgirth, Dumfries | Apple Day | Allanton Sanctuary | Click here for more info |
| 29-Oct-2016 | Whitecross -West Lothian | Apple Army – Orchard Celebration | Falkirk Community Trust | Click here for more info |
| 29-Oct-2016 | North Kessock -Black Isle | Apple Juicing at North Kessock Market | Transition Black Isle | Click here for more info |
| 29-Oct-2016 | Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway | Apple Day | Scottish Greens (Dumfries and Galloway) | Click here for more info |
| 30-Oct-2016 | Edinburgh | Family Apple Day at Green Hub, Inverleith Park | New Caledonian Woodlands | Click here for more info |
| 30-Oct-2016 | Buckhaven, Fife | Open Day: Haloween and Apple Party | CLEAR Buckhaven | Click here for more info |
Monday 24th August saw three new Local Facilitators meet up in Maybole, Ayrshire to participate in an afternoon of training the trainers. The training was carried out in cooperation with Ayr-based Scottish Smallholders Association, who are our local ‘Collaborating Organisation’ for North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire. Local Facilitators are the people that organise and support volunteer surveyors in their area.
The training was part of the Field Verification phase of creating a National Orchard Inventory for Scotland. The national project collaborates with local organisations so that knowledge is kept local and community organisations can be part of an orchard revival across Scotland.
Scottish Smallholders Association were successful in gaining Awards for All funding to carry out local work. Nationally the project is funded by Scottish Natural Heritage.
Want to know what’s involved in being a volunteer – here’s a one page summary
If you are interested in volunteering in any of the Ayrshires, please email ssa@scotlandthefruit.org.uk
For all other areas, please use our volunteer form here
At the Gathering follow up in February 2015 we had a session to try and tease out more of the collective vision
More at Gathering page
This presentation gives you a flavour of that vision
How do we celebrate and grow the orchard movement in Scotland as part of the local food revolution?
Click here to book now on Eventbrite
You are cordially invited to take part in the first Orchard Gathering on Friday 7th November. This will be an open event calling people together from across Scotland who are passionate about orchard trees, their fruits (and nuts), and how we strengthen the culture, knowledge and skills of keeping them. We believe the following things will happen at the event:
These are exciting yet demanding times. All over the country, old orchards are waking up and new ones are being planted, yet at the same time the supermarkets retain their stifling globalised influence: despite the apple being Scotland’s favourite fruit, our shop shelves are bare of Scottish-grown apples. But the orchard tree, and the apple in particular, has deep roots in our culture, and seems poised for a resurgence.
We will be using innovative participative leadership techniques to ensure that everybody present has a voice, and also harvesting the fruits of all the conversations as we go along, taking notes, photos and video that will be uploaded to a website of the event.
This is an event in two halves: discussion and celebration – you are invited to both. Once the purposeful, focussed daytime part is finished, we will move on to an cultural evening with music, storytelling, dinner, a play and ceilidh.
Tickets are by donation from £5 for the daytime and £5 for the evening (£2.50 unwaged).
Click here to book now on Eventbrite
This is a collaborative event hosted by Fife Diet, Orchard Research & Enterprise CIC and Forth Environment Link. For up to date event info please visit any of the three websites:
PROPOSED PROGRAMME (to be finalised)
1000: Registration, tea, coffee, freshly pressed apple juice
1030: Welcome circle including an interactive map of Scotland’s orchards and update on the National Orchard Inventory.
1130: What has been achieved so far?
In this session we will explore and discuss what is happening across all sectors of orchard growing, generating the agenda on the day to fit the programme to the people.
1300: Lunch with practical demonstrations and stalls featuring:
1430: What is needed to help grow the orchard movement?
Gathering everyone together, we will use the World Cafe format to discuss how to grow and strengthen the orchard movement.
1600: Next Steps
What do we think are the key next steps? How much can you commit to making them happen? With a summary and closing speech by Fife Diet’s Mike Small.
1700: Day event closes
1730: Sit-down dinner with an orchard fruit theme. With a welcome by Mrs Mash the Storytelling Cook.
1900: The Forgotten Orchard. A play for all ages by Eco-Drama. Followed by a tasting of all of Scotland’s apple varieties
2100 – 2230: Ceilidh with Hud Yer Wheesht ceilidh band, plus others – feel free to take a turn!
Click here to book now on Eventbrite
With thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for the funding to make this happen. Forth Valley Orchards Initiative is funded by CSGN. Header photograph by Clementine Sandison.
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