This year is the bicentenary of the well-known cooking apple Bramley's Seedling and the original mother tree is still fruiting away in Nottinghamshire. Until recently I could only reel off half a dozen other apple varieties.
All this changed when I went to help celebrate the Children's Orchard at the first Apple Day held in the Scottish Parliament. Dozens of named varieties of apples flourishing in Scotland were on display. Few of them looked like the specimens on sale i
n supermarkets. They tasted so good.
The Cambusnethan, Galloway and Arbroath pippins are examples from a time when Scotland was self-sufficient in apples. Big houses planted a selection of different cultivars for a succession of fruit to keep through the winter and stored them in purpose-built apple stores.
The Children's Orchard is an organisation which aims to help children from across Scotland grow healthy local fruit. Orchards fit in so well with the school calendar, with gorgeous blossom at its best in the spring term, and harvest taking place in the autumn term. Unlike a school garden, there is no problem about looking after fruit trees during the summer holidays.
John Hancox, the organisation's director, has a vision of a Commonwealth Orchard as a permanent legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. By then he hopes that Scotland will be a bountiful land of orchards, each one close to where people live and within bee-flying distance of the next one. There would be annual blossom and harvest celebrations. If you ask him when would be the right time to plant some apple trees, he will say 20 years ago, but the second best time is now. Allotments could set aside space for fruit trees to help his dream become a reality.
With care, apples can be planted at any time of year. But make sure you choose the right varieties. The familiar Cox needs more heat than Scotland has to offer although it is on sale in garden centres. Others are happier in one part of the country than another. Shelter from a wall helps in the north of Scotland. Apple flowers need to be pollinated by insects from another tree flowering close by. It's best to go to one of the specialist Scottish nurseries for advice.
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www.childrensorchard.co.uk 