There’s plenty to celebrate about apple season and lots of different ways to do it with events and activities happening around this edge of London. Apple Day was originally created by Common Ground as a way of celebrating and demonstrating the variety we are in danger of losing – not simply in apples, but richness and diversity of landscape, place, ecology and culture too. Over the last few decades orchards have disappeared from the UK in the wake of imported fruit that is often tasteless and stored for months in energy intensive chillers losing its main nutritional value. Luckily there are still local varieties in abundance to be had. Find them at:
Saturday 8th October: Apple Day at Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow
Now in its 11th year, this is the annual Waltham Forest celebration of all things appley! Organiclea and the Hornbeam café will be part of the fun with fresh juice and cider on tap, the opportunity to have a go pressing, and apple varieties to taste and buy. There’s also apple bobbing, candle rolling, children’s crafts, apple trees for sale, live music and plenty of cake. 11am-4pm. Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road, Walthamstow E17 9NH.
Organiclea’s next monthly open day at our Hawkwood growing site (Hawkwood Crescent, Chingford) will also feature an apple celebration: with juicing, chutney making, orchard tours and a ceremony for the apples planted this year. Sunday 30th October, 12-4pm.
It’s not too late to adopt a tree as a longlasting gift or memorial and help contribute to the orchard at this growing site. Details of this scheme here
Find local apples for sale alongside other locally grown produce on our market stalls – every Saturday outside the Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe St, Walthamstow (10am-3pm) and in Leytonstone, outside Matalan in partnership with Transition Leytonstone (11am-3pm).
And other apple celebrations in northeast London:
Sunday 9 October at Forest Farm Peace Garden, 12-4pm
end of Hazelbrouck Gardens (off New North Road), Hainault IG6 2XL
With guided walks, children’s activities, hot and cold food, a reuse and recycle “swap stall”, workshops on reducing your carbon footprint, herb workshops and more!
Sunday 16th October at Spitalfields City Farm, 12-4pm. Buxton Street E1 5AR
With Apple Storytelling, Apple Poetry, Apple cooking demonstrations,
Apple games, farm produce for sale, farm tours…
These are just the ones of which the news has come us, there are no doubt many others so enjoy tasting some of the 2000+ UK apple varieties and celebrating this season’s harvest!
