Sunday 18 February 2024

Orchard volunteering session, Sunday 3 March 2024, 10.30am

There will be another volunteer session at the community orchard on Sunday 3rd March, 10.30 -12.30. We shall be finishing the winter pruning and mulching. Rendezvous in the orchard which is at the south end of Ladywell Fields, near the Bournville Road entrance. Boots and old clothes recommended. Under 16s only with close supervision. Bring your own gloves, and secateurs if you have them, but some will also be available to borrow. 

Please email ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk if interested, so we can gauge numbers and let you know if we have to cancel due to wet weather.  

Monday 22 January 2024

Orchard volunteering session, Sat 3 Feb 2024, 10.30am

There will be another volunteer session at the community orchard on Saturday 3rd February, 10.30 -12.30. We shall be doing winter jobs: pruning, weeding, mulching and checking guards and posts. Rendezvous in the orchard which is at the south end of Ladywell Fields, near the Bournville Road entrance. Boots and old clothes recommended. Under 16s only with close supervision. Bring your own gloves and secateurs if you have them, but some will also be available to borrow. 

Please email ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk if interested, so we can gauge numbers and let you know if we have to cancel due to wet weather.  



Monday 8 January 2024

New trees for our community orchard

We started 2024 by planting three new apples trees in the orchard. They are heritage varieties--Rosemary Russet, James Grieve and Ellison's Orange--all on MM106 rootstock, which is semi vigorous and means they will match the height of the other trees in time. They replace the Avalon plum trees which sadly, we lost as a result of the 2022 summer drought.

Rosemary Russet is a late dessert apple, first recorded in 1831 in Middlesex. The fruits are juicy with an excellent sharp but sweet flavour. Ready to pick early to mid October.

James Grieve is a dual use apple from Edinburgh which was first recorded in 1893. Its apples are very sharp early in the season but mellow without losing flavour by December. Pick early to mid September.

Ellison's Orange is a dessert apple from Lincolnshire which came from a Cox cross. It was first recorded in 1904 and used to be commercially available. It has a distinctive flavour, developing an aniseed taste by the end of October. Pick mid- Late September. 

If you would like to become involved in caring for the orchard please email ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk.


Saturday 23 December 2023

Orchard volunteering session, 6 Jan 2024, 10.30am

Sadly, we lost a whole row of plum trees in the orchard, probably the result of the drought the previous summer. However, we now have three apple trees to replace them: a Rosemary Russet, James Grieve and Ellison's Orange.  We will plant these Saturday 6th January, 10.30am - 12.30pm, weather permitting 

Rendezvous in the orchard, by the picnic bench. Please bring your own gardening gloves, but other tools will be available to borrow.   Other potential tasks include dividing up comfrey plants, checking guards and stakes, and mulching.  Email ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk if you are interested, so we can gauge numbers and let you know if we have to postpone in case of wet weather.  

Tuesday 12 December 2023

The Ladywell Fields Tiny Forest--now not so tiny any more

About a year ago a 'Tiny Forest' was planted on a mound in the western half of the middle field (near Dressington Avenue).  A Tiny Forest is a dense, fast-growing, native woodland made up of 600 trees planted in a tennis court-sized plot.  They are not only an attractive location for wildlife but are great for people to enjoy as well, and can provide a range of benefits in the fight against climate change.  Lots of local people signed up as 'Tree Keepers' to help care for it and we met for regular volunteer sessions through the summer months. 

With the support of Lewisham Council, this autumn the Tree Keeper group embarked on a project to extend our Tiny Forest by about 30% to cover the rest of the mound. This involved eight volunteer sessions to double dig the soil, then a day of planting and fencing on 9th December. We have followed the same method as the original, except that we did the soil preparation manually. We are grateful to the Kenneth White Legacy Award for a small grant to cover the costs of 180 saplings and some additional fencing. 

Tiny forests need three years of care from local people before they become self sustaining. If you would like to be involved please email us ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk.