Rob Hopkins: Transition to a world without oil

Rob Hopkins: Transition to a world without oil

One of my inspirations for the project, I hope you will find this TED Talk inspiring too.





~Mark

Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA

Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA

An Inspirational guy who decided to take matters into his own hands. He planted his own food forest on his street and when the local government told him to get rid of it he took them on and won!




~ Mark

A Subversive Plot: How to Grow a Revolution...

A Subversive Plot:  How to Grow a Revolution...

Some very important issues and some very good ideas. This most likely will be the most important 18 minutes of video you see today. Some inspirational ideas for the Orchard Town Experiment.




~Mark

A Vision of the future: Ted's story

A Vision of the future: Ted's story

Ted, who has lived in Didcot for the past 35 years and now resides on Fleet Meadow, is a keen gardener and has maintained an allotment since he moved here. He has made many friends through working his allotment, and very much enjoys sharing his crops with his fellow allotmenteers when he has a successful season. 

Recently Ted has retired from his full time job working as a janitor/groundskeeper at All Saints Primary School but while he was working there, a volunteer from the Didcot Orchard Town Project approached the school with some free fruit trees to plant on site. The Headteacher was very happy to receive the trees and arranged for the volunteer to return to help plant the trees. A few days later Ted and the volunteer worked together to plant the first tree, whilst the children and teachers watched and learned. The children were happy to get involved with the digging and they worked with the teachers to plant the rest. As time went by, Ted was surprised that the children were really interested in the trees and he was never short of volunteers when it came to weeding. In the winter Ted taught them about pruning and in the summer the teachers taught them about pollination and reproduction. 

When it was time to pick the apples all the children joined in and they found that there were too many for the school alone, so the teachers suggested that the children should vote to see who would receive the extra apples. After a lot of commotion and scribbling on ballot papers the children had voted that the apples would be given to the local Children's Centre where many of their younger brothers and sisters went on a regular basis. Together they boxed up what was left and a few of them wandered down the road to the Childrens Centre, leaving the heavy work of carrying the apples to Ted and one of the teachers. All the parents and children at the Childrens Centre were very grateful for the apples and vowed to return the favor one day. Back at the school some of the other children were upset that they didn't have enough apples to give to their choice of recipient, even suggesting that they should get more trees so they could give more away next time. After some further discussion with the Headteacher  it was decided that they would do just that. Ted contacted the Didcot Orchard Town Project to see if they had any more trees available and luckily they did. This time when the trees were delivered Ted and the teachers supervised as the older children taught the younger children how to plant them. Ted felt so inspired by the generosity of the children and their willingness to help others.

Ted loved working at the school but like all good things his time there had come to end, it was time for him to retire. The children were sad to see him leave and planted a tree to commemorate all he had done for the school.  Although he wasn't as fit as he used to be, Ted, like the children, wanted to help others with what he had left. 

Ted was still a keen gardener so he contacted the Didcot Orchard Town Project to see if he could help out. They were happy for him to join in and he went to meet with some of the other volunteers at the weekly meeting. He was surprised by the scale of the project, there were micro orchards everywhere! How had he not noticed all this going on around him? Being September, and the main month of harvest, there were lots of jobs to do, so one morning Ted volunteered to put up some signs on the Ladygrove saying "Pick Me, I'm Ready to Eat & I'm Free!". As he was doing so, he was offering fruit to passers by, many of whom hadn't even realised that all these fruit trees were here. They all thought it was a great idea and were very thankful for the free fruit. Some even offered to help too so he told them about the weekly meeting. 

Ted was really proud to be part of the project and it was only his first day.

~Mark

Our First 2 Apple Trees from Blackmoor Nurseries

Apple Trees from Blackmoor Nurseries 

I'd like to introduce you to the very first trees for the Didcot Orchard Town Project, I purchased them from www.Blackmoor.co.uk for £25 each, Bargain!

Ordering

I decided to buy online after checking my local Garden centre and finding only one variety of apple tree there. Before deciding on Blackmoor I done extensive research and found that there are a lot of websites to choose from. What made me ultimately choose Blackmoor was a combination of easy to use website, comparatively good prices, extensive range, good product information and being able to deliver the trees all year round. Some of the other sites would only deliver the trees when they are in dormancy (Winter) and me being impatient, wanted them now! 

The Trees

St Edmund's Pippin

I chose two different varieties, a new variety called Fiesta AGM and an old english variety called St Edmund's Pippin, they will be ready for picking in September and October. Hopefully they will pollinate each other as neither variety are self fertile. Both varieties are 2 year old trees on M26 rootstocks so will grow be medium sized trees, roughly 3-4 metres tall when fully grown. However I don't plan on letting them grow that tall, otherwise we'll need a ladder to pick the apples.

Fiesta AGM

Also, when you order you get a choice of either bush, fan, cordon or espalier trained trees. I chose bush for both because i want to train/prune these trees to have an open centre (I'll write blog on training/pruning soon). Initially my plan for these trees is to grow them to a good size in pots and take cutting from them to graft to the rootstocks i'll be purchasing this winter.
Once i have secured the varieties on the rootstocks we will be planting them somewhere in Didcot.

Delivery

Flowers have fallen after pollination

Little Apple

When the trees arrived only 1 week after payment i was shocked by the size of the boxes they came in. They were huge! You will see from the picture that the two trees i received look to have been trained in 2 completely different ways but both are healthy so i'm not going to complain (life is too short to waste time moaning about imperfections). As you can see from these pictures, the trees have already flowered this year and we already have apples growing! Overall I'm very happy with Blackmoor and will be ordering some new varieties soon.

  And Here they are!

These will both be repotted into much larger pots to give the roots room to grow

 I hope you enjoyed the pictures

~ Mark

Theoretical Financial Benefits to the Didcot Economy

Theoretical Financial Benefits to the Didcot Economy

Please excuse the fancy title, basically I want to demonstrate how this project might affect our town financially. In the spirit of keeping it simple, I'm still only working with the Apple theme at the moment. Without further ado here are some interesting numbers.

The Numbers

On Average an apple tree will bear about 100 apples per year (This is based on a, medium sized, 5-10 year old tree)

Didcot's population is currently around 26,000 people (This figure is really hard to come by but in 2001 census it was 22,762 so I've done a bit of guesswork here)

The retail price of apples range from 20p - 50p each (Note: We are aiming to grow the best apples!)

The Sums

If we wanted to grow enough apples so each person in Didcot gets 1 apple a year we would need 260 apple trees. If those apples had a value of 50p each, the whole lot would be worth £13,000. Even if we only managed to produce apples worth 20p each, they would still have a value of £5,200 (A highly unlikely situation). 

As part of the Ladygrove Loop development the South Oxfordshire District Council planted 1,800 trees. Lets for a minute imagine that they had planted apple trees and those 1,800 apple trees all produced 100 apples each, giving us 180,000 apples in total. That works out to be 6.9 apples each for every person in Didcot and if they were priced at 50p each that would be a total value of £90,000. Now lets not forget that these apple trees will produce fruit every year. 

So potentially as a town we could already be saving £90,000 per year, if the Council had planted apple trees instead of the other species. 

Ladygrove Loop Connection

I don't want to get too involved into the politics, and please don't get me wrong I think for the most part the Ladygrove Loop has been a success and is a great asset for Didcot, but I would like to point out that the Ladygrove Loop cost £395,000. I assume (Don't quote me on this as I don't know for sure) it was paid for by our Council Tax Contributions, so basically the people of Didcot paid for it. Had the Council planted apple trees and given the apples produced (180,000) to the people of Didcot for free (£90,000 per year) then the project would have paid for itself within 5 years (in the form of free apples). 

Conclusion

I hope you found those figures interesting and  i've given you a glimpse of the financial benefit we could all share as a result of this project. There are lots of other things to consider such as maintenance, environmental effects, distribution/transportation (of the apples), disease and pests, vandalism and more (I'm sure). All of which we'll cover at a later date.

Thanks for reading

~Mark

A Vision of the future: Laura's story

A Vision of the future: Laura's story

Laura lives on the Ladygrove estate and every morning she walks to Didcot Parkway to catch the train to Oxford where she works. But this was not going to be a normal morning. 

It is mid September and Laura is starting her daily commute to work. She is in a rush and as usual she has missed breakfast. Hurrying along one of the yellow brick paths she sees a sign that reads "Pick me, I'm free". The sign is just stuck in the ground next to a tree that is fully loaded with lovely looking apples. Still in a hurry Laura steps over to the tree and picks a perfect looking apple. As she continues on down the path, munching away, she notices another tree with a sign that reads "Plums: ready in 2 weeks". Taking a closer look at the tree as she passes, she notices that is covered in lots of unripe plums.  In fact, as she looks down the path all she can see are fruit trees, on each side, covered in fruit. Each one with its own sign advising when it will be ready to eat."How cool is this?" she thinks, "I'll never miss breakfast again at this rate!".

Walking on she see's an old man putting up a sign besides one of the trees. He looks up at her and says "I see that you found the Granny Smiths!". Laura blushed, "I'm sorry" she said "but the sign said they were free!". "Don't be sorry, they are free" said the old man. "Here, take one of these for your lunch, they perfect for eating right now" said the old man as presented her with a great big pear that he had just plucked from the tree beside him. "Oh thank you, I haven't had a pear in a long time" said Laura "I must shoot or I'll miss my train, I hope you have a great day" she said as she walked on. "And you!" called the old man as she marched on. 

A little further down the path, once she had just finished packing away her lunch, she saw a group of schoolkids ransacking one of the old mans apple trees. The kids had a big basket were quickly packing all the apples, they could lay their hands on, into it. "Oi, what are you lot doing!?" Shouted Laura "Stop stealing all the old mans apples!" "We're not stealing them" squeaked one of the kids "We're taking them to school, it's our turn to fetch lunch today! They're not his apples anyway, they're everyones!" said another. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realise" said Laura apologetically "you better hurry then, school starts soon!" "Oh no, we're late" shouted one of the kids "Lets go, these will have to do" said another and they quickly scampered off lugging the basket between them. Laura walked on. 

She had finished her Apple now and was looking around for somewhere to bin the core when she noticed just before the railway station there was a big brown bin that had the words "Green waste only" written on the side. And as she looked around she realised she wasn't the only one carrying an apple core, every other person had one. One by one they all rushed past the brown bin, dropping their cores and pips into the bin before reaching into their pockets to retrieve train tickets or mobile phones. Laura followed suit. "They've thought of everything" she thought as she lifted the lid on the bin "But who did all this?" As she closed the bin she saw the logo on the top, it read "Didcot Orchard Town: Food grown in the community by the community". "thats a nice idea, I wonder how I can help?" she thought as she walked up to the platform to board her train.

End

The first trees for the Orchard Town Experiment: Apples

The first trees for the Orchard Town Experiment: Apples

Hello, So I have been doing a lot of research into the kinds of fruit trees we will want to plant in the Orchards. Youtube is great for getting tips from growers on how and what to plant to get the best results. I have discovered that Apple trees are amongst some of the easiest trees to grow so i have decided that Apples will be a good place to start.

Now there are a few interesting things you need to know about Apple trees before you can grow them. Unlike many other plants it is not as simple as just planting a seed from an Apple to grow an Apple tree. If you were to take a seed from, for example, a Granny Smith Apple and plant it, it will not grow into a Granny Smith apple tree. This is because when you plant an apple seed it mutates into a new kind of apple tree. The new apple tree could end up producing a good fruit but the chances of that happening are one in a thousand! So for the Last 3000 years growers have been cloning existing Apple trees to get the results they want.

Cloning Apple trees has two stages

Rootstock

First you must clone what is known as the "Rootstock". The Rootstock is a plant which already has an established, healthy root system. There are many different Rootstocks available, all of which have different characteristics including height, vigor, resistance to pests and disease. It is important to choose the right Rootstock for your situation for example you wouldn't want a 15 metre tree in your garden! Also you will need to plant a Rootstock that is resistant to the pests and diseases most commonly found in your country. Professional nursery's or websites will be able to advise you on the best rootstock for your requirement. The Rootstock you choose will grow apples naturally but they may not be very nice to eat.

Scion

OK, so once you have chosen the right Rootstock, you'll need to "graft" on a 

cutting, know as a "scion" from an Apple tree of the variety you want to grow. The Scion is a basically a small branch with a bud on it that has been cut from a healthy tree. This scion is then grafted onto the rootstock by cutting a groove into the rootstock and then inserting the scion into the the groove ensuring that the centre of each piece meets. The join must then be made waterproof to stop any rot creeping in. This can be done by many means either by wrapping in electrical tape, with melted beeswax or a specialised product. The graft will heal over time and later product Apples of the variety it was cut from.

Multiple Grafts

What is even more interesting about Apple trees is that you can graft on more than one variety of apple. This is great if you wanted to have a variety of apples for eating and one for cooking.

Starting out

So now you understand a bit more about apple trees where do you start. Well there are a number of different options available. You can either buy your own rootstocks and graft your own choice of apple onto the rootstock or you can buy a ready made tree from a nursery or garden centre. 

The first trees for the Orchard Town

Due to not having any Apple trees at my disposal for cuttings, i decided to purchase two different varieties of 2 year old trees from a professional nursery. This, i am hoping, will be the first and last time i have to purchase each variety because they are not cheap. In about a years time i hope to take cuttings from these trees and graft them onto rootstocks. This will save a lot of money as rootstocks are very cheap in comparison. So in a years time we should have enough trees to create two small Apple orchards for the people of Didcot to enjoy.

If you are interested in growing your own Apple trees check out some of the videos i have shared on the rest of this blog. 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my review of the Apple trees i have purchased.

~Mark

How To Grow Apple Trees

How To Grow Apple Trees

A good example of how to plant your apple trees and what additives you may want to add to the soil.




~ Mark

Grafting an Apple Tree at Woodleaf Farm

Grafting an Apple Tree at Woodleaf Farm

Great video demonstrating different types of grafting for Apple trees




~ Mark

Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery

Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery

These guys are doing some cool things in America, I like their idea involving the local schools




~ Mark

Cloning Apple Tree Rootstocks

We are going to need some trees!

Apple trees aren't as easy as just planting a seed

This video helps to explain why.

~Mark

The Idea for the Orchard Town

Hello and Welcome

My name is Mark and I'm concerned with the rising CO2 levels around the World. I believe that we all should try to do more to reduce our impact on the environment. As you know, many people are already taking steps to do this in the form of renewable energy and recycling but these are expensive. Another way  of reducing CO2 levels is by doing something that will be carbon positive such as planting trees or painting your house with photocatalytic paint. There are lots of ways we can do things to reduce CO2 levels, I believe that the hardest part is the Doing or more to the point getting other people to Do it too. This is why we must come up with new ideas that makes being green more natural and less of a chore. In fact if people can benefit from being green then there is even more reason to do it!

As well as being Concerned about the environment, I would like to see more positive things happening in my Local Community. I come from Didcot, a small growing town in the south of Oxfordshire and i am concerned that as the town grows we will slowly lose the sense of community that we currently feel. I recently went to London and felt sad at the way people treat each other, they don't speak to each other and basically ignore eachother. I don't want to see my town end up like that and i don't want my children to live in that kind of environment.

So, instead of waiting for someone else to solve these problems for me, i began searching for inspiration.

I live in a part of Didcot called Ladygrove, it is a fairly new estate with lots of green space. To be honest it is already a good model for the future with lots of footpaths (known as yellow brick roads) through the green areas that are adorned with  ornamental shrubs and trees. Recently the Local council installed "The Ladygrove Loop". The Ladygrove Loop is a fitness trail, that has many exercise machines, which runs along the yellow brick roads throughout the ladygrove estate. It's basically a free outdoor gym for the local people.
.

One day whilst on the Ladygrove loop i notice a few people out picking blackberries from the the numerous bushes that grow all over the estate. This got me thinking, why not have more fruits dotted around for the people to pick? And my idea was born...

The idea is to plant small scale orchards within Didcot to provide Local organic food to the population. The Aim is for the People of Didcot to get involved in the planting and maintaining of different fruit trees in order to provide themselves with healthy, free, organically grown fruit and a friendlier community.

The orchards will provide local people with an opportunity to get involved with their local community working as a team to manage the project. The Orchards themselves will be family friendly with local children being encouraged to take part through school projects. The Orchard will provide an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the life cycle of plants and their relationship with other species. Families can enjoy the experience of growing fruit together and when it is ripe and ready they will get to take some home with them.

The Trees will be grown naturally without the use of pesticides and chemical fertiliser resulting in healthier food and a healthier environment. As we know Trees are good for the environment, they help to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Fruit tree in particular help reduce CO2 emissions further, by growing the fruit locally the need to import fruit from other countries will be reduced. Reducing the CO2 emissions from supply chains will be better for the world not just Didcot.

Excess fruit can be donated to local charities that focus on feeding the poor. Also value can be added to fruit by processing into higher value goods such as Jam and then sold to raise funds for further development of the project.

As you can see there are many benefits to the project and i'm sure you have probably thought of some new ideas already. I would hope that other groups within Didcot would like to get involved in different ways, perhaps the Womens institute would like to process some fruit into Jam or a school may want to plant their own orchard onsite. The possibilities are endless. I hope you are interested and will continue to follow this blog and get involved.

Thank you for reading

~Mark