There is no better action to take to help protect our environment than to plant a fruit tree or two. There has been an established orchard at Kilduff Farm from which we have enjoyed bountiful harvests for many years, however with biodiversity and environmental impact at the forefront of everything we do, we decided to create a second, larger orchard in one of our established grass Paddocks.
The fruits of our labour
Planting the future
In the spring of 2021, we planted 28 different varieties of apple and pear trees sourced from Scottish Heritage Fruit Trees. John and his team are dedicated to working with farms, schools, and communities to plant more fruit trees and preserve more of Scotland’s older varieties. 160 of the trees we planted are of The Heritage Collection and we are excited to help preserve the existence of many of the heritage varieties of fruit trees in East Lothian.
Sweet collaboration
As well as providing food and shelter for wildlife and birds, apple trees produce spring pollen and nectar, and their bowl-shaped flowers are perfect for our precious pollinators. Bees are an important part of our story here at Kilduff. Our relationship with The Scottish Bee Company allows us to have a number of beehives on the farm ultimately producing the most wonderful honey, but more importantly helping to promote and protect the bee population. Just like for our pumpkins, bees are essential when it comes to growing apple trees (or any fruit tree for that matter). Cross pollination between trees is vital for a successful fruit crop and we rely on bees to move pollen between trees by pollinators who visit the flowers to collect their nectar.
By planting many different varieties of trees we are also helping to remove and store carbon from the atmosphere, slow down heavy rainfall, reduce flooding, improve air quality and enrich our soil.
We all have a responsibility to look after our world to provide a fruitful future and the team here at Kilduff take this incredibly seriously.
The Apple Press
Having planted our new orchard in 2021 and developed a healthy obsession with the apple juice that was being pressed off-site, we decided to invest in our own apple press on the farm. Excitingly, this means that each step in the process of bringing a bottle of Kilduff Apple Juice to your table is carried out by one of us. From orchard to glass – grown, picked, pressed, pasteurised, bottled and labelled all by one of the Kilduff team.
Having our own press on the farm means that we can also now provide a pressing service to others who have apples and would like to avoid waste and produce an apple juice of their own. We are committed to reducing food waste and this is just another small way in which we can do that. Please get in touch for more details on how we can help with our apple pressing service.
