Spring Clean

Our volunteers have been busy at our working parties keeping the Orchard in good condition and what better way to be rewarded than to see the pear blossom out! There is still a couple of weeks before the apple blossom arrives. We won't be having a special event for blossom viewing this year but would encourage you to take a few visits over the coming weeks to see the Orchard transform into something quite magical. 

Bring along your picnic blankets and baskets to our summer picnic on the 23rd June. It'll be a great opportunity to enjoy time in the Orchard with other Orchard Friends and members of the local community. Here's hoping for a dry and sunny day! 

Unfortunately one of our bird boxes was vandalised, which will now need to be taken down but we've bought three new bird boxes and an owl box from the good folk at The Woodhouse Centre in Oxted. We're pleased to support such a great enterprise that offers so much to our community and would encourage you to check them out. 

New Gate Sign Post

Our lovely new gate (pictured above) situated by Westerham Road has improved accessibility to the Orchard making it easier to use. All that's left is to adorn it with a new gate sign post, which will be coming soon.

Get Involved

As you may know, our Orchard relies on your generous donations, be that time, money or both. We're grateful to each and every one of you that helps make this Orchard exist for the benefit of our community. We're always on the lookout for volunteers and as the weather starts to improve, you might consider volunteering with us at our working parties that are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 9.30am. It's great opportunity to get outdoors, socialise and learn more about the Orchard. 

We're also on the lookout for a volunteer(s) to help organise our next Wassail. It's a great event for the Orchard and well attended by the community. If you would like to volunteer in any way, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via email or our Facebook Page. 

Best wishes from the Limpsfield Community Orchard Team 

Wassail 2024 Round-Up

We held our annual wassail back in January and it was wonderful to see so many members of our community at the event, including friends of the orchard, some of which volunteered with us on the day - thank you! Those of you local to the Oxted area may have seen the write up in the Oxted Local by our very own Robin. 

Our heartfelt gratitude to Carolle who stepped up to organise the event for a second time. Carolle is stepping down from organising our future Wassails so we're on the look out for anyone who might be able to help us organise next year's event. If this sounds like something you'd like to get involved with, please contact us; we'd love to hear from you! 

🍏🍎 Wassail Organiser Extraordinaire - Carolle 🍏🍎 

Our very well dressed Wassail Masters, Stephen and James, did a wonderful job of leading the proceedings on the evening together with the North Downs Drummers who led the procession from the British Legion to the Orchard. We would also like to express our thanks to the Titsey Rotary Club, whose members made up half of our volunteer team on the day and helped collect donations on our behalf.

🍏🍎 Wassail Masters, Stephen and James 🍏🍎 

🍏🍎 North Downs Drummers leading the procession 🍏🍎 

🍏🍎 Bonfire 🍏🍎 

The Rotary have also very kindly donated further funds to cover the cost of our new gate which is being installed very soon. 

Our volunteers have also been busy at our work parties keeping the orchard in tip top condition with the winter pruning which requires every branch to be pruned at this time of year to ensure each tree is in the best possible shape to bear plenty of fruits later in the year. It's a lovely time to visit the orchard just as we start to emerge out of winter and into spring; a big contrast to the time of year when our trees are in bloom! If you would like to get involved with our working parties, please email us to let us know. We'd love to hear from you and see you at the orchard! 

Here's hoping for a very fruitful year ahead from the Orchard! 

Limpsfield Community Orchard Team

Wassail 2024

LIMPSFIELD COMMUNITY ORCHARD WASSAIL 

Sunday 14^th January 2024

• From 4.30pm - Assemble inside Limpsfield British Legion
• 5.30pm - Torchlit procession through the woods to the Orchard where we offer cider, toast and salt to the King Tree to ensure a good harvest. 
• Bring a torch and a mug, also rattles, drums, whistles, tins; anything to make a loud noise & ward off bad spirits!
• Wear footwear suitable for walking through muddy woods. Warm & waterproof clothing - the more colourful, the better!
• Mulled cider & apple juice around the bonfire & a singalong.

Everyone is welcome

This is a family-friendly event. Please label your child with your mobile number. 

Limited parking. Please only bring a car if necessary. 

Donations very welcome to help us cover our costs. 

Annual Tasting Day - September 2023

 

Harvest Tasting Day

Sunday 24th September 2023

2.30pm - 4pm

Join us for our annual tasting day at Limpsfield Community Orchard to taste the crop!

We’re also on the lookout for volunteers for this event. 

• Fruit Tasting Hosts to help visitors taste the different varieties and evaluate them. No specialist knowledge of fruit required. 
• Bakers to make apple cakes to offer our visitors on the day. Perhaps you’ve got a favourite apple treat you’d like to share or have a go at the recipe available on our blog. 
  
  If you are able to help us out on the day, please email us at orclimp@gmail.com - we’d love to hear from you!  

Blossom Viewing - May 2023

We hope you've enjoyed the bonus bank holiday weekend this May and managed to enjoy some sunshine. We've been a little quiet lately but now we're back with a date for your diaries! 

Head down to the Orchard on Sunday 21st May for the Blossom Viewing. Don't miss the wonderful display from our fantastic fruit trees as they start to bloom, it really is quite a sight but don't delay as they don't hang around for too long! 

Wassail 2023

Before we step too firmly into spring, here's a roundup of the Limpsfield Community Orchard Wassail that took place earlier in the year. 

It'll come as no surprise that events like the Wassail take a good deal of time and effort to put together, so we were extremely grateful to Carolle Stent who stepped in to organise this year's Wassail. Thank you Carolle! 

This year we also welcomed our new Wassail Masters, Stephen Rapoport and James Reeves, who both did a wonderful job. All that preparation, research, speech writing and outfit making really paid off! 

Here are some photographs, courtesy of Bob Matthews, from the evening for you to enjoy and here's hoping for a fruitful year ahead. 

🍎🍏 Our new Wassail Masters 🍎🍏 

🍎🍏  🍎🍏 

🍎🍏  Our new Wassail Masters in their fabulous outfits! 🍎🍏 

🍎🍏  North Downs Drummers 🍎🍏 

🍎🍏 Leading the North Downs Drummers to the Orchard🍎🍏 

🍎🍏 Wonderful volunteers serving apple refreshments 🍎🍏 

🍎🍏 the bonfire 🍎🍏 

Introducing our new Chairman

We hope those of you who were able to join us for the Wassail had a wonderful time. There will be a round-up on the blog especially for that in due course but for now, please join us in welcoming our new Chairman, Will Turner. 

Here he is, under the expert eye of Helen Ellson, getting to grips with some pruning. This essential winter trim ensures light reaches all parts of the tree and good air flow through the canopy, hopefully resulting in better crops and fewer pests and diseases.