Wildlife Circus

  We intend to plant an orchard in Berrylands, where remnants of orchards can be seen in some of the large gardens that back onto Elmbridge Meadows (near Rose Walk). In former days this was  a stronghold for bullfinches, although sadly this beautiful bird is no longer present at many locations in the borough.   Link to the story so far Along with several community groups including schools; members of the newly formed Green Lane Community Orchard, attended the Orchard Project's 'Orchard Leaders' course earlier this  month at Finsbury Park. We visited an edible food forest in the south-east quadrant of the park where Lewis demonstrated annual growth, leaf and fruit buds as well as unusual trees such as medlar. Medlar   We tasted the leaves of salt bush and a Nepalese pepper as well as watching  many birds eating the seasonal berries including the yew arils;  Orchards are hot spots for biodiversity and have been shown to provide a refuge for over 18...

    We held a wassail this weekend - paying homage to fruit trees along our way - as well as local figures important in Kingston's Pomology or apple story. Our walk began in Hook, close to the former home of the founder of the heritage apple 'Colonel Yate', which was raised by nurseryman W H Divers of Surbiton (c1905); we continued to look for apple references as we traversed Orchard Gardens, Apple Grove, Cox Lane towards Tolworth Court Farm.  En-route we visited Causeway Copse (now know as Bullwhips- when did the council change its name?) where wild Malus species have been recorded according to the London records centre (Greenspace Information for Greater London or GIGL). We left votive offerings or 'gifts' - in the form of small pieces of toast - traditional, particularly in cider growing regions. In the eastern fields at Tolworth Court Farm we found bird species associated with  orchards, such as  redwings,  often found searching for any rema...