By Sylvia Harris of Greener Lindfield

We are now in our second year of caring for the orchard and are pleased to have established a full annual programme for volunteers. Regular activities such as maintenance, pruning, clearing, and labelling are working well, and we are looking forward to thinning the crops over the summer and enjoying a good harvest in September.

Last year, our volunteers picked 25 boxes of apples, which were donated to our local larder. Volunteers and residents also gathered blackcurrants to make jam and used apples from the orchard to bake cakes, making beneficial use of the fruit grown locally. We currently have a small, regular group of volunteers and would love to welcome more people as the project continues to grow. Scouts and local youth groups have already supported our work, and everyone is warmly invited to join our volunteer days, which are advertised locally.

We’d like to invite you to our Apple Festival on Saturday 26th September from 2-6pm, at The Barn Community Hub. Bringing the local community together and raising awareness of the orchard, celebrating the significant role it plays in our local area. We uncovered several old logs and are in the process of creating a stumpery to encourage more wildlife. This builds on our wider efforts to repurpose pruning around the perimeter of the orchard, creating valuable habitats and helping to boost local biodiversity.

Our aim is to have a storage unit to keep our equipment on site, have a new wooden noticeboard to promote the orchard and our yearly programme. To keep pollinating bees that complement our wonderful fruit trees is under consideration. We are keen to learn more about the history of the orchard and would be grateful to hear from anyone who knows how and when it was first planted.

Please contact nfosvo@gmail.com. Find Greener Lindfield on Facebook @GreenerLindfield