The Orchard Project

Fabulous choice 💚

Apple Games and Customs book with a screen printed yellow apple on the front in a hand

Man holding up a copy of A Vagrant's Pomona

Woman wrapped up against the cold with an espalier apple behind reading The Apple Anthology book

Here's some of our staff team's favourite orchard books for #WorldBookDay:

🍏A Vagrant's Pomona by James Fergusson - Fergus, Glasgow PM
🍐Common Ground's Apple Games and Customs - Sarah, Communications
🍎The Apple Anthology @ninearchespress.bsky.social - Daniella, Network Co-ordinator

What's yours?

The Orchard Project’s Certificate in Community Orcharding students pruning veteran fruit trees.

The Orchard Project’s Certificate in Community Orcharding students pruning veteran fruit trees.

Certificate in Community Orcharding student with veteran fruit tree.

It’s #WorldWildlifeDay and we're celebrating the many benefits of veteran fruit trees for wildlife. Our students (pictured) recently learnt some valuable skills in veteran tree care at Bethlem Royal Hospital's amazing old orchard in London. #CommunityOrchards

Beehive against a blue sky in an orchard

Deadline to apply for a subsidised place on our new Certificate in Community Orcharding Course at #RHSWisley is 2 March! At £250, it offers a significant saving on the full course price (conditions apply).

👉 www.theorchardproject.org.uk/events/cicow...

📷️ RHS Wisley

#CommunityOrchards

Children in a long line carrying tools

A group of children digging a hole for a tree

A group of children admiring their newly planted tree

A group of boys cutting out a piece of turf

Great feedback from children at St David's Catholic school in Swansea about how our project manager Kate could have made creating their new orchard better: "Make the trees grow faster!" Inspiring the next generation to care about the environment is one of the best things we can do. #CommunityOrchard

Our Orchard Project Manager, Witchhazel, based in Swansea, has recently been surveying veteran fruit trees in Clyne Valley.

Find some great resources on supporting veteran trees our website - www.theorchardproject.org.uk/naturefriend...

#CommunityOrchards #VeteranFruitTrees #Swansea

Hardback book 'The Apple Book' with wrapped scions in the background

We're running our popular London Scion Swap at the Castle Climbing Centre garden on Sat 28 Feb from 11-1. Come along to swap your apple and pear scions and chat with like-minded orchard enthusiasts.

More info & register via Evenbrite 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scion-swap...

#CommunityOrchards

Elaine Ruth Ingham Obituary February 16, 2026 - Palmetto Funeral Group View Elaine Ruth Ingham's obituary, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

Such an inspirational force for good who helped so many of us appreciate the amazing soil beneath our feet.

www.palmettofuneralgroup.com/obituaries/e...

Two women inspect an apple tree enclosed by a triangular guard. There is a large bee-hive shaped hut in the distance. Image Credit - Hannah Drummond

Fancy brushing up your #Orchard know-how? 🍏

Join us 25th Feb at #Bellsquarry with the wonderful @theorchardproject.bsky.social for a chance to learn some new skills and help your local orchard thrive. 🍎

Free (yes, free!) tickets at 👉https://buff.ly/7AGqzAH

Read more 👉 www.theorchardproject.org.uk/blog/what-co...

#CommunityOrchards #EnvironmentalImpact #EnvironmentalData #Biodiversity #ClimateAction #ESG

Two women wrapped up for winter digging in a community garden

How do you measure something that can’t easily be pinned down? That’s the question posed in our latest blog by Harry, our Head of Fundraising. Read more 👉 www.theorchardproject.org.uk/blog/what-co...

#CommunityOrchards #EnvironmentalData #Biodiversity #ClimateAction #ESG

📷️ Cal Holland

Tree bark with a heart wound in it and blue summer sky in the background

We're spreading a little #love today by sharing one our favourite photos from a #CommunityOrchard in Glasgow.

Obviously this photo wasn't taken recently, and not just because of the leaves on the tree - it's also got a strange blue colour in the sky that's eluding most of the UK right now...

Man on a tripod ladder pruning a veteran tree with blue sky and white clouds in the background

A woman dumps mulch woodchip onto a newly planted tree in the rain while a man looks on, kneeling on the ground

Group of people looking at young fruit trees in an urban orchard

Three people looking at different types of fruit tree options in books on a table

Whatever the weather throws at them, our project managers and volunteers show up to time and time again to help create and manage thriving community orchards across the UK. Here's just a few moments that have been captured lately!

#CommunityOrchards #VeteranOrchards #Pruning @biodiversityku

If you live in or near #Manchester and are keen to improve your pruning or planting skills in a great community space, check out our upcoming events! 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-orchar...

#CommunityOrchards

Guild of rhubarb and other plants under a fruit free with grass around it

Group of people with a ladder looking at veteran fruit trees in winter in an orchard

Trained form fruit trees in neat lines within grass in Spring

Woman smiling up a ladder pruning a veteran apple tree in winter

We're thrilled to be running our Certificate in Community Orcharding Course (CICO) at #RHS Garden Wisley this Spring.

Save £200 if you book before 14 Feb with our Early Bird prices. We also have a small number of subsidised places: 👉 www.theorchardproject.org.uk/events/cicow...

#CommunityOrchards

Thankyou! Happy pruning 😊

There are so many great opportunities to get stuck into some winter pruning with us this month. Whether you’re just starting out, or want to volunteer your existing skills, see if there's any events happening near you: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-orchar...

#CommunityOrchards #Pruning

So, so muddy but a glorious day anyway 😅

🍏 We're looking for a Project Manager who loves community orchards as much as we do to join our team in #Manchester.

Sounds like you? Apply now 👉 bit.ly/4bF6AHV

⏰ Deadline: 8 February 2026

#CommunityOrchards #GreenJobs

Thankyou! We loved working with Peter on this. It's always inspiring to talk to people this passionate about what they do.

Those look luscious 💚

Thanks to your generous donations we raised a grand total of £15,210 to support our Project Team to plant & restore more community orchards across the UK. Your kindness is going to make a real difference this year. Take a moment to read some of the lovely messages shared with us during the campaign.

Looks like a great event 💚

Mulberry: the wisest of trees - The Orchard Project It’s early January and -6 degrees outside. A heavy frost coats the grass around the old mulberry tree near to where I live in north-west London. The chocolate-brown buds are tightly closed and will st...

If you're a patient grower (they can take up to 10 years to fruit!) mulberry might be the tree you never knew you needed....

Read more in our blog (and growing guide) 👉
www.theorchardproject.org.uk/blog/mulberr...

Making sense of the cider soaked wassail The cacophonous, cider-slinging midwinter tradition of wassailing is an ancient one that continues to this day. Laura Parker offers a toast to harvests anew

This year seems to have brought about more #wassails than ever! Our favourite orchard tradition 💚

www.countrylife.co.uk/people/makin...

We love nothing better than seeing the next generation of orchardists inspired to have a go!

😂

Love that you have one on the list! Hopefully tastes better cooked 😆

Glad you enjoyed it - we feel the same about people who truly follow their passion 😊

Thanks @adapples.bsky.social - always welcome feedback and thanks for reading the blog! We were getting loads of spam comments a while back, so had to turn that option off unfortunately.