This year’s apple crop has been very good and as we were unable to hold the Annual Apple Day at the Primary School, where we normally juice the apples to give away, this year we decided to try something different.
The apples that were collected by the village volunteers were taken to High Peak Cider Press in Birch Vale to be cleaned, pressed and turned into pasteurised juice. 87 litres of juice has been produced from this year’s crop. The 1 litre bottles can now be distributed to those in the village who would like one.
We will be setting up outside the Packhorse on Saturday 24th October at 9 am, with the bottles of juice to give away.
The processing and bottling of the juice has resulted in a cost to the Community Orchard of £1.60 a litre. The Parish Council and Sustainable Hayfield have offered to offset this cost this year but donations would be welcome to pay back both for their generosity and support.
Next year we are hoping to put the Community Orchard on to a more commercial basis for the benefit of the community. If you are interested in becoming involved in the Community Orchard Project please contact Councilor Cath Hughes or Derek Clarke.
If you missed the videos that we made to provide you with some of the other elements of Apple day, click here, sit back and enjoy!