Spruce up the picnic area 5 Nov 2019

FOMP workday session on 5th November 2019: by Pippa

Join FOMP volunteers to work alongside Glendale (the company that manages the park) to spruce up the picnic area adjacent to the children's playground, in readiness for the new tables and signage we should be getting soon with the funding we applied for.

Join us from 10 am to 2pm. Stay for an hour or longer. With the help of Glendale we will be hoisting the Green Flag awarded to the park a few months ago. 

😊👍

WONDERFUL APPLE DAY

APPLE DAY SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER 2019
By Pippa
Apple Day today in Mayow Park was a great success! Considering the rain last year, this was a vast improvement; a mild grey day and the park looking wonderfully autumnal.
We had 10 varieties sliced up for people to try - 8 apples and 2 sneaky pears! 

Photo by PM

Photo by PM

Although we grow eleven apple and three pear varieties in the orchard, most of the varieties were brought in by the FOMP team, either from their gardens or from the shops.
Unfortunately Community Orchards in public spaces often suffer from people outside the community coming in with large bags to strip the trees of all fruits. This year our supportive park users were watchful, helping to ensure that some fruits remained on the trees, to be harvested at the right time and to be shared at our event.
There was plenty of discussion about the quince variety - mixed opinions on that one for sure!

Under our gazebo we had around 8 volunteers at one point, which is brilliant. In total 13 volunteers helped. Dave was on the teas and coffees which was much appreciated. First Max and Kate, then later George and Tessa made a great slicing team. 

Photo by PM

Plenty of families took part in the apple trail and the story telling (Rich Sylvester - always a great hit).  

Photo by PM

Some wonderful colouring got done too by the smaller children - if only  there was an apple variety as bright as their versions!
Plenty of chat around the tables about apples but also the community in general - sharing connections, ideas and clever plans!
People had fun rating the apples and certainly there were some clear leaders - the Cox's Orange Pippin, Russet and Red Delicious were popular.
Visitors said how good it was to see so many British apple varieties to try - more than you would see in a supermarket - we probably all tend to go for the same ones (or the ones our kids like). It raised the question that, with so many varieties of British apples still being grown, why is it hard to find home-grown on the shelves?
The FOMP team deserve to feel very proud that all our planning and preparing resulted in a well-attended and well-appreciated event and a fun community morning in our treasured Mayow Park! Thanks to the community for your donations too which will come back to you in the form of more events.

photo by AS refreshments table

Photo by AS 

Photo by AS

Photo by AS

And finally, popularity ratings for the apple & pear tasting:

By Pippa