Halberton Orchard and Garden

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About the Project

A fantastic partnership between the parish council and village hall to create a new growers organisation which has planted up 3/4 acre to fruit trees on village hall land. This project wants to expand to a community garden on a nearby farm in the future.

Halberton having won the DevonCalorVillage of the Year award in 2007 went on to win the regional business award and a £500 prize. This set them thinking about how the money could benefit the community, and they decided to develop an orchard in their community, but where to start? They needed land, knowledge and some fruit trees!

This is where CCD’s HogCO (Home Grown - Community Owned) project stepped in to help set up the Halberton Growers Association and to help address some of these issues. Very soon the Parish Hall had volunteered a patch of land that had previously been an old orchard. Parish Council Chair Ken Browse, also on the Hall committee confirmed the benefits of using the hall and commented on how the whole    community had risen to the challenge to set up the new project.

With this vital element in place the group moved forward and were soon taking part in orchard planning, planting and pruning courses set up by HogCo.

The final piece in the jigsaw was securing the appropriate trees; a task that Ken proved to be very adept, so much so, that if any other groups are interested in some young apple trees he would be pleased to hear from you!

Hog Co is keen to hear from any other Community Buildings that are keen to support and/or host community growing schemes and can be contacted at

info@hogco-devonrcc.org.uk

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LATEST NEWS

Dec 2011

HogCO organised a workshop led by Charles Staniland on formative and maintenance pruning. There was a great turnout from the village with lots of members keen to get their loppers on the trees! After nearly a year of being in the ground, the young trees are looking really healthy, and we managed to prune every tree (which will give them a great start and help to ensure the trees develop the ideal shape). The afternoon session concentrated on a neighbours more mature orchard, teaching participants how to look after and shape older trees.

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July 2010

HogCo has provided training to the group in Orchard Plot Design and Practical Tree Pruning.

orchard behind village hall	Sophia admiring a tree!
in the tree nursery	waxing lyrical
Tree planting	Tree planting
Tree planting