Community Orchard Spring Clean-Sat 16 Mar 1-3pm

The Orchard group will be carrying out seasonal work in the Community Orchard on Sat 16 Mar between 1-3pm, please join us if available. We will be clearing weeds from around the fruit trees and putting compost around each tree. The orchard is in Stanks Park which is behind Mac's papershop at the East end of Lamond Drive. Tools will be provided, just bring gloves. For further information contact Henry Paul 07977-131635.

St Andrews Orchard Group - AGM

Hi,

Sunday 21 Oct is Apple Day. Please come to the Community Orchard (behind Macs papershop on Lamond Drive) at 2pm for a little tidying up session. I am then planning to hold an agm in my house (200m from Orchard) at about 4pm. Mulled cider will be on offer.

Henry Paul

Spring work party - Sat 28th Apr

Help is required on Saturday 28th April from 11am to 1pm to help clear the ground around the fruit trees. This helps the trees develop stronger roots and saves them competing with the grass for nutrients. It also means that the council workmen do not have to strim around the trees; a practice that can damage young trees.

Contact me (Henry Paul) if you have any questions.

St Andrews Community Orchard – Wildflower Meadow project

We hope to change if from this:

Where the grass is cut every two weeks and no wildflowers are able to compete against the more invasive grass. To something more like this:

An area where wildflowers will be established and the grassland will be mown once a year and the cuttings removed. We will use Yellow Rattle in our Organic conversion of this area into a Wildflower Meadow.

Yellow rattle is an attractive, semi-parasitic, grassland annual. In the past this plant was a serious pest for farmers as it weakens grasses and as a result can reduce hay yields by as much as 50%. In a landscape or garden context however, this suppression of grass growth is welcomed as it produces a better display of wild flowers and eases the mowing required.
Yellow rattle germinates late February to early March, flowers in June, and sets seed in July. At the end of each growing season as the annual yellow rattle plants die away they leave behind gaps into which new wild flowers can establish. As a result, wild flower seed sown into an existing sward will establish more readily in areas where yellow rattle already does well.

Apple Press

The St Andrews Orchard Group have obtained an electric fruit shredder and a large apple press. These were paid for by a grant from the St Andrews Common Good Fund and are available to anyone who lives in St Andrews. The trugs of apples in the picture were crushed and juiced in half an hour and produced 60 litres of juice.

Second planting in St Andrews Commonwealth Orchard

Fortyeight fruit trees were planted in March 2011 to complete the St Andrews branch of the Commonwealth Orchard. We had pupil and teacher volunteers from Canongate, Greyfriars, Madras additional support and Madras Eco club. We also had some community councillors and members of the public helping. The day was dreich but, all of the trees were planted.

Fruit Tree Planting Wednesday 30th March

Hi,

As part of Madras' Eco day we are planning to plant 50 more fruit trees in Stanks Park (behind Mac's papershop on Lamond Drive). We will meet at 1pm in the park and please bring a spade if possible.

If you require any further details pease contact me.