Beautiful days at Appletree Cottage

With the beginning of May the apple trees around Appletree Cottage and Shandon Farm are coming into full bloom

The blossom just starting on the Oslin which is an old Scottish variety. An eating apple with a slightly aniseed taste - great with cheese!

The trees around Appletree Cottage are part of the more recent planting.

Although the 46 apple varieties in our orchards are Scottish we have some popular types from elsewhere. Here a a Reverend Wilkes displays its blossom with Appletree Cottage in the background.

The glorious sunny weather we've been having provides great opportunity for the bees and other insects to do their bit.  The blossoms on the trees range from white to deep pink.

A bee collecting pollen on the amply flowered Beauty of Moray apple variety.

The Gravenstein variety produces white blossom. Here another bee does its bit.

As well as around 350 Appletree's we have 2 pear trees - which this year are looking very promising.  We may get our first pears yet if this blossom is anything to go by.

Conference pear tree in full blossom

The Beauty of Moray trees are a very similar shape to the pear trees and have a similar amount of blossom this year

Beauty of Moray tree in full blossom. The apple although listed as a "cooker" produces a fine clear dry very tasty apple juice which we bottle and sell locally.

The first trees were planted in March 2014 and have now started producing apples in reasonable quantities.  After picking we press the apples - mixing varieties together - to produce juice which we bottle and sell locally.

Appletree Cottage looking south on a beautiful sunny day in May

During the recent lockdown for Covid-19 it has been sad to see the cottage empty of visitors during such spectacularly beautiful weather.  Hoping that you'll all come and visit us when things get back to normal.  In the meantime stay well and stay safe.