Apple Orphanage Co Ltd, Isle of Man / Blog

First Season!

2011-09-19T23:11:00.001+01:00

Sorry we've been absent of late - it's been a hectic year, but we've had great fun! Here are a few photos showing some of what we've been up to since last year...

Our new Real Manx Cider - launching this weekend at the Food & Drink Festival!

A single variety juice or a blend for any occasion!

Elderflower Keshal

Will and I in our apple tree nursery bed - nearly 800 trees grafted this Spring.

We were lucky to have 2 litters of healthy piglets - they've grown up fast since!

A day's worth of apples collected from the Cooperative Harvest (featuring our new apple sacks!).

Food&Drink Festival 2010

'Drink More Apples' T-shirts! (available on Facebook.....)

Apple Juice label mocks

2010-07-21T10:45:00.002+01:00

Hello once again apple fans! Apple season is rapidly approaching and we at Apple Orphanage have been busy designing all our product labels. We have finalised our apple juice labels and are now patiently awaiting their delivery...

To spare you all the suspense, we have created a wee mock-up of what our juice bottles and labels will look like; so feast your eyes on these lovely fellas...

As ever your comments are appreciated...

Apple Sacks (Sneak Peek)!

2010-07-06T16:41:00.005+01:00

I hope you didn't think we'd gone away!

[Click the image to see it big]

So here is a massive update; our Cooperative Harvest scheme has come of age... It's taken a lot of hard work to get this sorted but we've finally sent the artwork off to print and can confirm just how the scheme will work.

Grab a bag, fill it with apples, bring it back to us and well give you a fair share of juice.

How much juice you ask?

Use the simple Juice-o-meter on the side of the sack!

For those of you who'd like more details we're putting together a leaflet to explain the scheme further but it really is simple. You can grab a leaflet from us at the Southern (31st July & 1st August) & Royal (13th & 14th August) Agricultural shows and the Isle of Man Food Festival (25th & 26th September).

A~~s for the sacks they're 28 cm cubed and made of a very tough, UV protected woven polypropylene.~~ We've spent a lot of time researching the sacks; size (apple capacity of an average tree compared to ease of carrying), sustainability credentials (we want to be concentious in every aspect of the business and we're happy to say that although the sacks are oil-based they are recyclable but more importantly they'll last for years).

EDIT: 13th July We've just received news from the printers that they now can't guarantee the previously arranged deadline... Hopefully we will be able to find a suitable alternative.

Introducing Miss Mildred Dabinett...

2010-03-11T16:05:00.004Z

The latest edition to the Apple Orphanage family! Mildred is a Large Black pig, a traditional British breed currently labelled 'vulnerable' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust . They are an infamously hardy breed (a point she's proven well having coped with ease through the arctic-like weather we've had this Winter!).

Since they were first introduced the two pigs have been getting on infamously, much to our relief, although Mildred has definitely asserted herself as the dominant sow (which is no surprise given her size!). But as you can see she's still a big softy...

Lazy pig!

Today we have given the two little piggies their first Apple Orphanage task. Day tripping to the wooded area next to the orchard, our now forest pigs are doing their very best to overturn soil and uproot stumps in preparation for extending the orchard; hopefully in time for some new arrivals that we have on the way.

Go for it girls!

On a separate note, if anyone out there is interested in learning how to graft apple trees to extend (or begin) your own orchard, then why not come along to Native Oak Group's half day grafting course this Sunday; at the end of the day you'll go home with your very own grafted apple tree! We'll certainly be there - the more apple trees we can plant, the better! Find out more information from Facebook. Hope to see you there!

Crab Apples

2010-03-09T12:34:00.000Z

As Spring approaches, Lady Eglantine and her new companion (Miss Mildred Dabinett...more to come soon!) are enjoying the warmer weather and wallowing in the stream.

Meanwhile, Will and I have taken a few hours out of renovating the Cider House to plant a few new apple tress! Having been so impressed with the crab apple juice we pressed last year, we've planted two new crab varieties: the Malus Cheals Weeping, and the Harry Baker. The latter is a new variety of Crab apple with green/purple leaves and large pink flowers, producing dark red apples with dark pink flesh; I look forward to seeing whether we can produce a pinkish cider with the addition of this fruit!

Orchard Pig

2010-01-16T21:53:00.007Z

Happy Apple New Year! I hope everyone has had a good festive season. Will and I saw in the New Year with the latest edition to the Orphanage: Lady Eglantine Lambourne, Orchard Pig. She's a Gloucester Old spot crossed with a Large White, and don't panic - she's not for eating! She has a lovely temperament, is very sociable and enjoys being taken for long runs in the field. She was pretty small when we got her as a weaner (and dirty until we gave her a good bath!), but now is almost double the size, so will shortly be transferred from her smaller temporary pen into the field, where she can run until her heart's content!

Gorse experimentation

2009-12-14T16:49:00.005Z

Having picked our gorse it was time to experiment with a few recipes. We managed to pick about 6 pints worth of flowers (no small feat given the size of each flower!), which have been put down into two separate batches of Gorse wine: a sparkling variety if we pay careful attention and get our timings right. Both batches are currently fermenting in large vats and will be ready for straining into demi-johns in a few days.

Our gorse flower hoard

We were then left with a remaining pint of gorse flowers... far too little to warrant making another batch of wine, so I've tried a gorse flower cordial - if it's as tasty as it was quick and easy we're in for a treat! It should be ready by the end of the day...

Fermenting gorse flowers Lovely bubbling cordial

Pickin' gorse

2009-12-12T18:36:00.064Z

Here Charlotte and I are picking gorse:

I'm not too sure why we haven't tried it out before; I don't think there's a more iconic Manx countryside plant.

Quite a few people have mentioned it, or asked about it; so we're giving it a go. It's an interesting one because it's missing from every book we've got (and we've got quite a few!)... Hugh's given us a starting point though.

First impressions are good; the flowers have a really interesting aroma, almost coconutty, and they have much more flavor than I thought they would. So we've put down a variety of batches to start developing our own Manx Gorse recipe. We'll let you know when it's tasting time!

Updating the blog

2009-12-11T10:25:00.005Z

Real posts coming today!
This is a test post. More to follow.