by David Feather
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve has an orchard which has a wide variety of local heritage apple trees. They are now about 10 years old and starting to bear fruit. However, the crop has been very variable this year.
If you grow apples, you will know that sometimes you will have a poor harvest, whilst in other years you get a glut that is far more than you and your family can eat. So what can you do with the surplus, so they do not go to waste?
One way is to take your surplus along to the Trowbridge Apple Day event on Saturday 2 October between 11 am and 3 pm. There, you will be helped to turn the apples into juice, that is if you take empty bottles as well as the fruit. This annual event is run by the The BIG Community Grow. One of the organisers of this group was very helpful when our Southwick orchard was being planned.
The second way to use your surplus is to post them to Hawkes cider, the innovative London-based, carbon-neutral cidery. You can now post your surplus apples to them post-free from anywhere in the UK. Hawkes cidery uses supermarket surplus and reject fruit to press its cider as a standard. It has a strong commitment to reducing food waste and inspiring others to do the same. Their team are passionate about urban opportunities for apple growing and consumption, engaged with local communities, and dedicated to inspiring – and growing – the next generation of orchard and cider enthusiasts.
For this year’s harvest, your donated apples will go into their flagship cider, Urban Orchard. For every 3kg of apples donated direct to the cidery in Bermondsey, Hawkes will give you a can of its Urban Orchard cider! For donations sent in via the delivery service on their website, you will receive a voucher for half a pint. Their website is HAWKES – LONDON (wearehawkes.com) .
What a marvellous idea!
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 