THE golden month of October is when autumn’s season of mists and mellow fruitfulness reaches is peak. A traditional time for harvest festivals and thanksgiving. A time too, to celebrate the bumper crop of apples produced this year. The 21st of this month sees the 21st birthday of ‘Apple Day’ and will be marked by many events across the county. Begun to champion local fruit at a time when orchards were being grubbed out everywhere, these gatherings mark all that is good to be gained from regional flavour and diversity in our orchards and the richness of wildlife that they support.

At Levens this year we have had a massive crop of fruit from our small orchard, planted originally through the forethought of our forebears. Trees with wonderful names such as ‘King’s Acre Bountiful’, ‘Beauty of Bath’, and ‘Nelson’s Favourite’. Many of them are now vast gnarled specimens, perhaps more than a 100 years old, but whatever their age, they have been heavily laden once again.

We will have taken an astonishing six tons of fruit down from them this year. A few as fresh, sweet dessert apples, plucked from the tree to eat there and then, and more as big cookers, to go into the restaurant for pies and crumbles. The vast majority however have gone into the production of ‘Levens Cider’. The fruits are washed, chopped, pulped, and pressed to extract every drop of the golden juice. It is then left to slowly ferment, the sugars being converted to alcohol by natural yeasts. The result will be a fine vintage of a few thousand bottles of very special cider.

An ‘organic’ approach to fruit growing like ours means not every apple produced would meet a supermarket’s standard shape and blemish free vision of cosmetic perfection. But, our apple trees are still a superb sight in spring when covered with blossom, and always go on to produce huge quantities of fruit every autumn. Best of all, our low input approach leaves the orchard as safe haven for bugs, bees, birds and wildlife.

When it was planted, a lot of space was need to see the trees grow up to maturity. Nowadays, modern rootstocks and varieties provide much smaller, easier managed, heavy cropping bushes for even the most modest of plots. Everyone has room for a few in their garden.

Chris Crowder is head gardener at Levens Hall chris.crowder@me.com

Jobs to do this week:

Clear the garden of weeds as best you can as they can act as hosts for pests and diseases. Also, at this time of year many will otherwise spread their seeds, or prepare to overwinter for a faster start in the spring.

Rake up and collect fallen leaves regularly. Don’t see it as a chore, but as a free doorstep delivery of valuable mulching material. Store overwinter first in a compost bin or sacks.

Remove spent summer bedding, refilling pots and planters with fresh compost. Replant with bulbs, pansies, double daisies, winter flowering heathers etc.