Cotteridge Community Orchard
Growing, harvesting, cooking and eating real food
Background
Along the side of the park, near the railway line, is a strip of land that used to be allotments that belonged to British Rail and was used by railway workers. From 1997 the land was sold to a series of private owners at auction and over time the land was used to dump rubbish on and the weeds ran riot – turning the land into a tip and rat haven!
Eventually local residents, with support from the Midlands Co-operative Society, raised nearly £7,000 to buy the land and restore as a community orchard.
In 2005 the job of clearing the land began most of the early hard work was taken on by Gordon who worked tirelessly to clear the weeds, rubble and rubbish.
In 2006 we recieved a grant from Birmingham Trees for Life to undertake some of the heavy tree work and to purchase the fruit trees. The first trees were planted at an apple day event in October 2006. The rest of the trees were planted in the Spring of 2007.
The tree varieties are a mixture of traditional and modern chosen for us by Nick Dunn, from Frank P Matthews a company that has been supplying fruit trees for more than 100 years. Nick's grandfather was responsible for supplying all the Bournville Village Trust houses with fruit trees for their gardens.
The apple varieties in the orchard are:
Bramley, Ashmeads Kernal, Herefordshire Russet, Charles Ross, Scrumptious, Red Devil, Red Windsor, Greensleeves, Discovery, Red Falstaff, Limelight, Grenadier, Sunset, Fiesta and Katy
To see lots of orchard photos go to the orchard web album and the orchard classroom album
Have you visited the orchard recently?
With the sunshine and showers that we’ve had, the apple blossom has come out and the whole area has started to come alive with insects and birds!
The wildflowers seeds have been broadcast and the plants and trees donated by residents are settling in nicely.
Although the main park is only feet away, the whole area is wonderfully peaceful...
Posted on 10 Jun 2008
The Orchard is now definitely showing signs that spring is on the way!
The Orchard is now definitely showing signs that spring is on the way! The trees are in bud, the miniature daffodils are now flowering and the bluebells are steadily pushing their way into the light now. If the weather stays this mild, seeds already in the ground should start to germinate...
Posted on 10 Jun 2008
Outdoor classroom
Spring 2008 saw the start of work on our "outdoor classroom". With a kind financial donation from a local resident, a design produced by an FoCP member and oak sourced from Pepper Wood near Bromsgrove we are creating seating in the orchard. The seating will enable local schools, community groups, families and friends to make the most of the learning and leisure opportunities in the orchard.
Compost Bins
Thanks to the very hard work of a group of volunteers from Cadburys all this year's compost has been put on the beds as mulch.
