Picnic in the orchard - our latest poster

 This fantastic poster was designed for us by designers at Rebel Kitchen  (RK). Meet some RK staff at the picnic.

The first orchard trees were planted in 2012. The parks department at Lewisham Council gave us permission for the site. The Orchard Project (TOP) came to help all the volunteers with demos and advice on how to plant the trees properly and after care. TOP colleagues will be joining us for the picnic so you can chat to them about fruit trees and their rewilding project.  

You can also meet some of our Friends of Mayow Park volunteers who look after the orchard.

Summer picnic Sunday 14th July

 

Join us for a relaxed afternoon among the fruit trees.

Find out the names of fruit varieties we grow and seek out those you won't find in the supermarkets.

Looking after the plants in the Triangle beds

 Our volunteers had taken our eyes off the rapidly growing 'weeds' in the Triangle  herb and fruit bush beds opposite the cafe. This is the  planted space that visitors see as they walk past the cafe and into the park. We can do better. Only one regular  and another occasional volunteer have done much in a few months, clearing the long grass from the winding path through the herb bed. Oh dear! 

The rain really helped everything grow rapidly.

We are now playing 'catch-up' by having extra informal gardening sessions.  

 On  25th May 2021 three volunteers  got down on their knees busy weeding at the Triangle space. They pulled up some long grass under and around the raspberries  and some minor pruning of the raspberry canes so the berries can be seen more easily. As we were still following Lewisham's Covid distancing rules, three was a good number and we brought our own tools.

There were other informal sessions whenever individuals could turn up. As far as possible, plants and twigs were piled beside the hedgerow to make a 'dead hedge' of sorts.

We are now managing the plants better. 9th September and three volunteers gathered to prune the plum (which should have happened in August!), prune back the raspberry canes that had fruited this year and also keep the canes that are still fruiting as the weather is so mild. 

Another hastily arranged session on 15th September had the plum and apple tree in focus. The long grass was raked away and the trees were given a thick layer of partly rotted woodchip mulch. We were careful to make sure to leave a circular space between the tree trunks and the woodchips.

Mulching helps the fruit trees

Mulching will help the trees. Why? 

1. Mulching reduces evaporation from the soil around the trees in dry weather, keeping the roots moist.

2. Rain falling onto the mulch filters slowly through to the roots so they don't become too wet.

3. Mulch can help prevent weeds taking over the area round the tree. Weeds can compete with the tree roots for nutrients

4.Wood chips around trees can support  mycorrhizal fungi. These  fungi  are helpful to the tree roots

5. When wood chips have rotted down they are good for improving the soil.

Plenty of good reasons then? The orchard trees get the same care and attention.

Clearing the fruit area at the Triangle beds by Pippa

It seems the combination of weather events this year (excess rain followed by warm and dry weather) meant our currant and berry bushes were being heavily invaded by long grass, nettles, 'sticky buds' (also known as cleavers, Latin name Galium aparine) and the odd bramble and in fact when we started this clearing project the fruit bushes were really very hidden. 

As people stopped to say hello we explained what they were and many hadn't realised. Anyway it's pretty rewarding pulling up all that stuff (bar nettles, hate those, I always get stung) and gives you a feeling you are 'freeing' the good stuff. 

The currents and raspberries are already fruiting in small form on the plants so there should be a good crop for people to pick a few as they go past. 

The plum and apple trees look better too. The plum fruits suffer from 'pocket plum' and no longer form proper fruits. 

We cleared loads of 'weeds' the first session. A second session was needed to finish that job - by now I was crawling pretty much inside the fruit bushes as you get slightly obsessed with getting every last strand of grass out.

Alona then wheelbarrowed the good-quality compost we'd created in our bin in the park, and we started spreading it around the cleared beds. It looks really great now.

During these sessions I was very distracted by The Triangle looking stunning with Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) but really taken over by the 'sticky buds' so I couldn't resist clearing some of those out.  There's bindweed in there too though that's a big job for next time.

It was great to be back having a 'presence' in the park (Alona and I working at 2m apart was easy). People do always stop to ask questions and we can remind them about FOMP.

We even had our first FOMP Zoom meeting this week so the Friends certainly are still being active despite many of our planned activities having to be cancelled.  At least we got our new benches (from the Greening Fund) put in just before lockdown. Just a reminder that we always are looking for more people to join the small but active FOMP committee!

plum pruning and pocket plum

Not many people are aware of the small fruit bed which is tended by volunteers from Friends of Mayow Park not far from the cafe and near the water fountain. Look and you will find a Victoria Plum tree and a Jonagold apple.
Last year some of the fruits on the plum showed signs of Pocket Plum.  This year it suffered more.
According to the RHS:
Pocket plum is a fungal infection of the young fruits of plums, damsons and some ornamental species, causing them to develop abnormally, without stones.
This is caused by a fungus Taphrina pruni The fruits often develop a bent banana shape. There is no current chemical-free treatment. To control the disease all fruits and infected branches need to be removed before spored develop.
Unfortunately, though some fruits were removed early in the season, we did not pay enough attention to this tree.

Two volunteers arrived at 9am this morning 6th August, to give some positive attention to the plum tree. The sun was already blazing down and we wanted to finish before the day became too hot.
We pruned branches which had diseased fruit, removing all prunings from the site. We also removed a branch growing at ground level below the graft union, which was clearly not the same tree variety.
All tools were disinfected.
Next year we need to be very vigilant early in the season.

Gardening workday coming up

Thursday 15th Feb 2018, time for our first gardening session of the year in the Triangle, opposite Mayow Park cafe. New volunteers are welcome. Dress for the weather.
We will be reducing the height of the fruiting hedgerow, pruning raspberry canes, weeding and mulching the fruit bushes. As it is half term week, children can help with some of the tasks as well as look for minibeasts in the mulch and in the log pile.

Countdown to Apple Day

In the countdown to our Apple Day in Mayow Park, the past two days have seemed a bit chaotic. Yesterday was all about waiting at home to receive the new orchard sign so that it could be installed before Saturday. When it arrived it had to be unpacked, creating a sea of bubble wrap plastic scattered over the corridor floor.
Today, the wait was for heritage apples we had ordered from Brogdale - four different varieties to use for tasting at Apple Day. Luckily they arrived before 9.30am. The apples from Brogdale were specially ordered: you won't be able to find these in your local supermarket.  We will also buy more common varieties for tasting on the day.
Today was already booked as the day that our five bat boxes were being installed.  The bat boxes and the new sign were installed thanks to Steve and Lee from Glendale.

installing the new orchard sign

Job  completed

The Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) have held evening meetings to finalise arrangements for the day. We plan to set up two gazebos and to have  story telling in the woodland area nearby.We have also planned

• Unveiling the new orchard sign
• Pointers on how to identify apples.
• Apple tasting from a range of varieties.
• Hunt for apple names - search for labelled apple templates hidden in and around the orchard.
• Story telling with a professional story teller

Some more ideas we had for games and activities include apple bobbing and longest apple peel, drawing and poetry writing. Come along and join in.

The event is free and suitable for everyone. It is organised by Friends of Mayow Park. We are always keen to welcome new volunteers to help with events.

The new orchard sign showing all our fruit varieties 

We will not have any of our own apples at our event. Some fell off the trees as part of the natural  'fruit drop' process of thinning out, some because squirrels or birds fancied them  and some were removed by volunteers if they showed signs of brown rot or were too crowded together. All this thinning helps to encourage larger fruits. But that still left  plenty of apples, pears and three quinces, none of which were ripe or ready for picking. Unfortunately all these remaining fruits were removed by people unknown. This is a blow for those volunteers who cared for the trees throughout the spring and summer hoping to share them at our community event. As we had already planned the Apple Day it was decided we would buy in apples - after all they are the stars of the show.
See you there!

Apple Day 14th October 2017 with FOMP

It has been months since our last post. If anyone would like to write a blog for us on green spaces in general or Mayow Park in particular, do send an email. We would love regular contributors and some of your photos to make this blog more active.

Our latest news is that we are planning Apple Day in  Mayow Park community orchard on 14th October,  a free event in celebration of orchards. 
We are very excited that we will be launching our new orchard sign. It was designed with illustrations from St Michael's Primary School eco-committee at the end of the summer term. The poster below gives a taste of what we are planning. If you'd like to help or want to know more you can send an email to friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com 
Hope to see you there.

Summer pruning orchard workday June2017

We had a very productive Orchard Summer Pruning and tree care session on 24th June with a total of 12 adults and 5 children. Good weather obviously plays an important part in determining how many people are able to take part, so that was a good start. We put up our gazebo to signpost our presence and placed our sign board nearby so that passers-by would recognise who we were and what we were doing.

As usual on these occasions we went through the risk assessment, safe handling of tools and list of tasks for today.

First up was to check trees for pests and diseases. We found some ant and aphid activity on two trees, most noticeable on the Cox's Orange Pippin; some leaves on some trees had evidence of leaf miner but nothing to worry about. Some leaves on the pear trees are starting to show signs of rust but this should not cause serious damage. Many of the apple trees are bearing heavy loads of fruit so we thinned out clusters to prevent disease and encourage the fruits to grow bigger.

Before pruning started in earnest we ran through the reminder of what to look for with the branches:
DEAD, DAMAGED OR DISEASED
CROSSING OR CONGESTED (i.e. overcrowded)

The plum and cherry trees can only be pruned in summer as winter pruning risks developing Silver Leaf, a fungal disease that could destroy a tree. It is probably better to summer prune in July and August but today was our workday for this task.
Before we could prune, some of the tree guards needed to be reduced in height. They have helped to protect the trees pretty well, despite two guards having been damaged during the past few months.

Jonathan inspects the Quince before cutting the height of the tree guard

Sandra with Lane's Prince Albert apple

Robert & Jon reduce the height of the guard round the cherry

Jon among the plums

While the pruning was going on, Sue with her able assistant Christopher (aged 4) were cutting down the comfrey plants, putting them into the wheelbarrow, then chopping them up into small pieces to put round the trees as mulch.

Christopher chops up comfrey leaves to use as mulch

Two other able-bodied young helpers were Thomas and Daniel, watched over by Carol while Jonathan cut down the guards around the quince.

Daniel and Thomas supervise the work

We also had two babies (under 12 months old) supervising us and other adults not in these photos.
Half-way through our work Lewisham's Mayor, Steve Bullock, came to officially open the newly refurbished tennis courts. They have been open for a few weeks already  and have been welcomed by most  of our enthusiastic tennis players.

Newly refurbished tennis courts - May 2017

 We were invited to join in to see the cutting of the ribbon  and share in the delicious strawberries and cream cake.These photos of the Mayor and the cake were taken by Carol Robinson.

And here are photos from the official photographer, including
- a group photo of the Mayor, tennis players, young children and the orchard volunteers
- the tennis courts
- the amazing cake

Three hours of orchard work by the team of volunteers passed by very quickly and the opportunity for a group photo was lost as people went home. In addition to pruning, guard height reduction and comfrey mulching, we also managed to weed round the trees and cut the grass round them.

our blossoming orchard May 2016

Have you noticed that the grass in our orchard has not yet been cut? There is a good reason. After our incredibly wet winter and early spring the ground in the orchard was extremely soggy until the end of April and some areas are still damp. Attempts to bring in heavy mowing vehicles to mow the grass would have left deep ruts in the mud or they would have got stuck.

On a personal level I am pleased at the delay. The longer grass looks attractive, has encouraged ground-feeding birds to forage and allowed more flowering plants to grow than we would have seen previously. Look carefully and you will see slim plants dotted around with white or pale lilac flowers, that stand taller than the grass. These are Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) also known as cuckoo flower, part of the brassica family (think of cabbages and salad rocket). Although these plants are common throughout the UK, they prefer wet grassland - which summarises the state of the orchard grassland in recent months.

When we originally planted the first orchard trees in February 2012, the site was damp, not saturated. But planting in March 2016, after months of heavy rain, meant most of the site was unusually muddy and not ideal for our young trees.
Now that the ground in the orchard is drying, it is becoming rock hard again and cracks are appearing due to the heavy clay subsoil.
The recently planted fruit trees have started their once-a-week watering regime, tended by volunteers who have 'adopted' them, bringing water from home to water the trees as park water supplies are not easy to access.
Meanwhile the established fruit trees have been flowering in succession, attracting local photographers to capture the splendid blossoms. In future years, when the new trees will also flower, it would be a perfect time to celebrate the beauty of our orchard.

conference pear

Conference pear tree

Apple Red Windsor

Czar plum

Czar plum