Apple Day 5th October

Apple Day at Geilston Gardens

We’d been to Geilston before (see previous blogs) but never had it been as well attended as it was this apple day.  It was great to see.
​Despite there being many cars there was still plenty of space to park and we luckily managed to find a parking place close to the entrance.  The hut at the entrance doubles as a small shop and a ticket office. Earlier in the year we'd decided to take a year's membership with the National Trust for Scotland.  As NTScotland members we were entitled to free admission.  Non-members pay £7.50 for adult and £5.50 for concessions.  There are separate prices for family tickets. NTS by the way has reciprocity with the English National Trust. More information and directions can be found at the NTS Geilston website at: www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/geilston-garden

​Appletree Holiday Cottage is situated on Shandon Farm where we have planted 360 apple trees since we arrived nearly six years ago.  Hence the name Appletree Cottage..
Many of the apple trees are now bearing substantial fruit and we have started making our own Apple Juice and Jellies which are popular locally.
So it was with great interest we went over to the Apple Day at the nearby village of Cardross on the shores of the River Clyde between Dumbarton and Helensburgh.
The event was being held in Geilston Gardens - a National Trust for Scotland property.

Appletree Luxury self catering Cottage - named after our Apple Orchard

Spacious accommodation for eight

Jonogold apples

The orchard at Geilston is well kept with around seven different varieties of apple including Katie, Discovery, Jonogold, Egremont Russet and Sunset.  The ground, having been a former vegetable garden is in obvious excellent condition as the abundant fruit shows few blemishes.

Discover Apples

An excellent scarecrow keeps the birds away from the trees and the wide variety of flowers still in full bloom in October.

The apple pressing stall proved popular

Over in the main house a couple of rooms were open for teas, coffees, soup and cakes as well as a tombola stall to raise funds for Geilston Gardens.  On the lawn outside the house various tents and marquees were set up.  One stall was dedicated to pressing apple juice from fruit picked in the Geilston orchard and giving a hands on experience to children and grown ups who could scrat, press and sample the produce of their labours.

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Other stalls included local bee keepers, Friends of Geilston, Girl Guides and locally made jellies.  After a good look around we got back in the car and returned to Appletree Cottage after a very pleasant afternoon out at Geilston Gardens.