Who doesn’t love their apples? We certainly do! Since 2013 PLANT have planted 55 apple trees of 30 varieties around Tayport for everyone to enjoy. And last year they really started fruiting properly!
Join us for an orchard wassail this Sunday, 12 February at 4pm to sing to our trees, encouraging them to be even more fruitful this year.
We will meet at the playpark at the top of Garvie Brae, which is a part of the Fruit Tree Walk, PLANT’s largest community orchard along the Scotscraig Drive.
Find out more about the Fruit Tree Walk and last year’s Tayport Orchard Survey – and how you can get involved.
We will be joining Janice in a wassail procession, singing songs and toasting the trees along the Scotscraig Drive. We are told that a silly hat and some noise making equipment are a must (as are some warm clothes)! There will also be some apple stories and poetry. It will be fun for the whole family.
Bring a mug to try some hot, mulled Tayport apple juice to go with the home-baked apple cake.
Parking in the area is limited so please try to walk or cycle.
Let us know if you’d like to help Janice in leading the singing and we will give you access to recordings of the songs we’ll sing (contact Kaska on blog@tayportgarden.org).
The word ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘waes hael’, which means ‘good health’. A traditional wassail includes storytelling, singing, poems, and noise to welcome the new growing year and say thanks for a fruitful harvest – you can read more about it on Greener Kirkcaldy’s blog.
The event is a part of our #showthelove February, highlighting impacts of climate change on things we all love and want to protect. Climate change is likely to be a mixed bag for orchards. Warmer temperatures in Scotland may mean that in the near future we can grow frost-sensitive fruit trees such as peaches out in the open. At the same time, there are likely to be many negative effects. For example, crops from many traditional apple and pear varieties will suffer because warmer winters do not provide enough of a chilling period to ensure good flowering (for more information see 2016 Farming Futures report – PDF). This is likely to affect many of the Scottish varieties which we planted in our Tayport orchards.
Come and show your love for our apples this Sunday!
You may also want to join us for a green Valentine’s heart making at the Tayport Community Garden earlier that day, 1-3pm.
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