This is one of the many trees we have been harvesting fruit from over the last week or so. This one is a roadside wilding, which has produced a good crop of sweet, but fairly bland dessert apples. We have also picked Dessert and Culinary apples (and a few pears) from an old orchard in Rockingham village, and a number of trees in Cottingham and Middleton villages, including our own small orchard. Our aim is to get as good a mix of fruit as possible. Too many cooking apples in the mix can result in a very sharp (acidic) cider. Sweet, low acid apples like the ones from this tree will help in this regard, as will a few pears.
Last year we produced a separate Eastern Counties style cider from locally picked apples which we sold as our 'Cottingham & Middleton Blend'. This year we hope to make a little more cider from local fruit, which we aim to sell at the Welland Valley Beer Festival in June, probably as a 'Welland Valley Special Blend'.
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