Fruit - Picking and Harvesting at Abbey House Gardens
One of the most commonly asked questions by our visitors during Summer and Autumn is 'what do you do with your fruit?'. With over 200 different varieties of fruit in the gardens, particularly around the collonade, its a real feature when in full fruit and nearing harvest time.
The harsh winter of 2009 has helped the gardens produce a bumper harvest in 2010 with more grapes and apples than we have had before. We also 'mid season' prune to encourage fruit growth rather than plant growth around May / June time. The grapes are also,wherever possible, 'pruned around' to give them maximum direct sunlight during the hot summer months.
The process of fruit picking is a difficult balancing act to get the timing right. Our visitors want to see fruit on the trees and vines and not in fruit picking buckets after all! As a result we try and hold off picking as long as possible. This year we started this process early October and finished just after the first frost around October 20th. The frosts helped give the grapes a little more flavour and ripeness.
The fruit is then boxed and delivered to a local farm that presses and bottles them ready for consumption. This super healthy juice is then displayed and sold at the Apple Store tea rooms in the gardens.
