SeasonalSeasonal reciperecipe
Cider, rum and cinnamon punch Orchard Newsletter This warming punch will go down well at Christmas or at a Wassail event. Winter 2013 Ingredients 6 large apples, diced 1 litre of cider 1 litre of water 100g sugar 250ml dark rum 3 cinnamon sticks 3 star anise
Method Place all the ingredients, except the rum, in a saucepan. Heat and simmer for at least one hour then add the rum. The punch can be served warm or cold. Issue 32
This recipe will make enough for around 10 servings. ∗ Mistletoe magic ∗ Wassailing events ∗ New cider books ∗ Orchard workshops For further information, contact Joy Williams at Somerset County Council, Countryside & Coast Team on 01823 320468, [email protected] or the contacts specified for each item. To request this document in an alternative format please contact us. OrchardOrchard newsnews InformationInformation
Winter Bees Farewell Frank Naish For most bumblebees species, winter is a time for hibernation but for Britain’s oldest cider-maker, Frank some species, such as the Buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, Naish, died peacefully in his sleep winter can be just as busy as the rest of the year. In the warmer parts aged 89. He had been making cider of the UK, such as Somerset, fully active winter colonies of this at Piltown Farm, West Pennard for species are regularly recorded, even when temperatures are close to 82 years. freezing and there is snow on the ground. These plucky bees depend on a few winter-flowering plants to survive. Frank, and his late brother, Harold, learned the art from their father, William, and owned what is thought to be the oldest cider press in If you would like to help bees in your garden during the UK, dating from 1840. the winter you could plant species such as mahonia (pictured) viburnum x bodnantense ‘dawn’ The family’s link with cider-making is thought to go back 200 years and winter honeysuckle. and Naish cider has been winning awards for nearly a century. In 2009 Frank received national TV coverage when Oz Clarke and To find out more about winter-active bumblebees James May visited his farm for their BBC tribute to British drink. In and to report your sightings go to: 2011 Frank was awarded the Royal Bath & West Society’s annual award for a lifetime’s service to the cider industry. Bees Wasps & Ants Recording Society (BWARS) .
Frank Naish was respected and loved by fellow cider-makers for his generosity in passing on his knowledge to others. He will be greatly missed. WorkshopsWorkshops
Orchard Groundcare – Saturday 25 January and 8 February
Nuffield Farming Scholarship 2014 - Pruning & Planting Apple and Pear Trees. The workshops run from 9.00 to 4.30 with lunch and lots of hands-on tuition for a fee Orchard Groundcare’s Director, Neil Macdonald, has been awarded a of £70.00. For more details or to book your place: Nuffield Farming Scholarship for 2014. Neil is taking as his topic [email protected] 01963 240581. Orcharding systems for the next decade. He intends to research varieties and growing methods in Australia, USA and Europe with a Somerset Rural Life Museum – Saturday 8 February 2014 view to providing the industry with information to help plan for a Orchard Management – an introduction to apple tree management sustainable future. Neil’s Scholarship is sponsored by The Worshipful with practical sessions. The workshop will run from 10.00 to 4.00 for Company of Fruiterers. We look forward to hearing more in the future. £40 including a light lunch. For more details or to book your place: [email protected] 01458 831197 OrchardOrchard informationinformation OrchardOrchard booksbooks
Mistletoe Magic (Extracts from an article in Somerset Life) World’s Best Cider (ISBN 9781906417994) by Pete Brown and Bill Bradshaw is the first book to showcase There are many traditions associated with Christmas - trees, the world of cider, from its origins as a thirst-quencher decorations, presents, cards and of course the tradition of kissing under for farm workers to its present as a rival to champagne. the mistletoe. This tradition dates back to the Celts when their Druid priests thought it had magical properties. To maintain those properties Travelling from the Old to the New World, Pete Brown the mistletoe was cut with a golden scythe and caught in a white sheet and Bill Bradshaw explore every aspect of this before it made contact with the ground. More it has been suggested that fascinating drink and the people who produce it. mistletoe may be useful as a cure for circulatory problems and some of Beginning in the sidrerias of Asturias, Spain, where cider has been part the chemicals found within it are known to kill cancerous cells. of the culture for thousands of years, the authors then travel north to Normandy and Brittany in France, to the famous cider regions of There are about 1,500 different species of mistletoe growing all over Somerset, the Three Counties and Wales in the UK and then across the the world today and most are found in tropical areas. Mistletoe in Atlantic, to New England and Quebec where cider is being re-invented. Britain is concentrated most heavily around the counties of Over 200 ciders are described in detail, with tasting notes, and illustrated Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and of course with hundreds of Bill Bradshaw’s inspiring and beautiful photographs. Somerset. Our mistletoe, viscum album, grows on a variety of trees including apple, lime, hawthorn and black poplar. The most popular habitats are gardens, orchards and parkland where old trees can thrive and mistletoe can become established and slowly spread. The new Cider Maker’s Handbook (ISBN 9781603584739) A national survey of mistletoe distribution in the 1990s revealed that it by Claude Jolicoeur, a well-known and award-winning was declining due to the loss of old orchards. However the last couple amateur cider maker. of years seem to have bucked the trend and this year our good summer has produced an abundance of quality mistletoe in Somerset. Exposure All around the world, the public’s taste for cider to sunlight gives mistletoe berries that beautiful pearly whiteness and has been growing more rapidly than at any time in where it grows in shade berries will be greener. the past 150 years. The New Cider Maker’s Handbook combines the best of traditional Locally grown mistletoe harvested from knowledge and techniques with the best modern Somerset orchards is available as practices to provide today’s enthusiasts with all mistletoe balls, wreaths and garlands they need to produce high-quality ciders. from Christmas Wreaths Direct, a company based in the Blackdown Hills.
A little book about Mistletoe (ISBN 9781491226896) 01884 266465 A little bit of everything you wanted to know about mistletoe, in a full www.christmaswreathsdirect.co.uk colour guide! UK-based mistletoe expert Jonathan Briggs explains what [email protected] mistletoe is, and why it has such an unusual place in tradition, myth and legend, especially at Christmas.
OrchardOrchard informationinformation WassailingWassailing eventsevents
Wassailing Here are some of the Wassailing events I am aware of (listed in date I found an amusing article on Wassail order) but I’m sure there are plenty more! Etiquette and have selected some extracts below. You can read the full 17 Porlock Wassail - Monday 6 January 2014 6.00pm - 8.00pm point plan in the winter edition of What’s Route: Dovery Museum to Community Orchard. For details: on Somerset. Old Twelfth Night, 17 01643 863150 January, is Wassailing time. Rich’s Farmhouse Cider Wassail – Saturday 11 January 2014 Materials required: Orchard, Cider, Toast (soaked in cider and then 7.00pm - 11.00pm at Watchfield, Highbridge, TA9 4RD put in tree using pitchfork), Wassail queen (also put in tree using The annual charity wassail will include music from the Mangledwurzels, pitchfork if resistant), Words to wassail song, Shotguns (fired into tree and a support act. Ticket price of £7.50 includes a mug of mulled cider after departure of wassail queen), More cider. and a bowl of Somerset Casserole. For more information and tickets 01278 783651 [email protected] Method: Go to an orchard and scare away evil spirits from the trees in order to ensure a good harvest and cider. Please note if you don’t like Carhampton Wassail - Friday 17 January 2014 at the Butchers cider then this is probably not the best event for you. But if you do like it Arms, Carhampton, TA24 6LP, preceded by a smaller event in the and like falling over a lot, possibly into a roaring bonfire, then get your Community Orchard in the centre of the village next to the pub. ticket now! For details: 01643 821 333
Photo from George Ody of the Porlock Wassail 2013 Dunster Wassail - Friday 17 January 2014 at 7.45pm at the Buttercross Orchard (between The Buttercross and The Bull)
Kilmersdon Wassail – Saturday 18 January 2014 from 12 noon at Kilmersdon Village Hall, Radstock, Bath, BA3 5TD Orchard Grants The Wassail starts at 12 noon when ploughman’s lunches will be As reported in the Summer edition, available and the 2014 Wassail Queen will be crowned at around generous funding has been received 1.15pm. That will be followed by a procession to the Community from Shepton Mallet Cider Mills to Orchard for the Wassail ceremony and tea and apple cake at the Old make grants available for planting, School House. This is a free event but if you need further information managing and restoring traditional contact Martin or Frances 01761 437372. orchards. If you would like advice from FWAG SouthWest on any as- Somerset Rural Life Museum – Saturday 18 January 2014 pect of orchard management please 7.30pm - 10.00pm contact Ann Langdon. At Abbey Farm, Chilkwell Street, Glastonbury, BA6 8DB For more information on planting grants and an application form please There will be a barn dance and music by Rapscallion. Seasonal drinks go to the Somerset County Council webpage Apply for a community are included and hot food will be available. Tickets are £8 for adults trees, hedges and orchards grant. and £5 for children. To pre-book 01458 831197 or [email protected]