After a winter of pruning and a whole year of care, it’s always an exciting time of year when harvesting the apples in the cider orchards gets going, and this year, we’ve had an upgrade!
In early spring, Sam bought a much larger harvester, and after his extensive rebuild and upgrade, the apples can now be collected from the relative comfort of the tractor cab with this enormous beast! Front and side sweepers move the crop into a single row which travels up a selection of roller conveyors and drop into the trailer behind. Robert is then busy ferrying the full trailers back into the yard to be emptied, then returning to the orchard ready for a refill.
As you can see from this photo, this is just the first pass as the trees have not yet been shaken, and there will probably be two more, depending on the ripeness of the apples. Fingers crossed that we don’t get as much rain as last year which made the end of the harvest somewhat difficult with the ground saturated. However, the larger harvester means we can now collect as many as 90 tonnes a day rather than the previous 25, so it should be a great deal quicker.
Once tipped in the bunker in the yard, the apples are loaded into articulated lorries (which take around 28 tonnes each time) before heading just 5 miles into the Sandford Orchards cider works in Crediton where they’re crushed and transformed into their delicious range of ciders and
Needless to say, we have many of the Sandford Orchards range to sell behind the Bar at Harefield Barn, and it’s extremely satisfying to be a part of the process from beginning to end… farm to glass and all completely local!
The orchards are also one of the many beautiful locations we can whisk you away to on your wedding day to take stunning photographs; fabulous at any time of year, but utterly gorgeous when in full blossom with the fragrance wafting over the trees and the bees busy buzzing.
Believe it or not, no-one has yet had their wedding at the perfect time to take advantage of this, and although we can’t guarantee it, middle to late May is often the most likely time, and with the 10th and 14th of May next year available, are you going to be the first?
When we planted the original orchards, there was the odd tree that inevitably didn’t make it, so occasionally, they were replaced or infilled with other varieties. One of these trees turned out to be a delicious eating apple, and although we’re not sure what variety it is, I try to make sure I have time to preserve some of its deliciousness by dehydrating slices and making apple ‘leather’. Always a popular snack with the grandchildren, it’s not only scrummy, but about as healthy as you can get too. As you can see, this year I had three enthusiastic helpers whilst picking (just hoping I was going to throw them an apple actually!)
As our wedding season draws to an end, there’s still a very busy time ahead for the ‘boys’, and with over 20 loads of apples booked in for delivery, and we’re hoping there is some sun between the showers!
