Community orchard planting at Clay Park

New date Saturday 24th at 2pm. 

Learn about how to plant and care for young fruit trees, and lend a hand in establishing a new community fruit & nut tree orchard at Clay Park, the Transition Homes site in Dartington.

Come and join in the fun on Saturday from 2pm, when we'll be planting nearly 20 fruit and nut trees. We'll be led by two local knowledgeable growers, Wendy Stayte (who coordinated Incredible Edible Totnes for 10 years) and Liz Turner (who ran Trees for Health for 12 years) so it's a great opportunity to ask questions about growing your own fruit trees, but equally just a fun opportunity to get your hands dirty! Free tea and cake will be available. Do wear wellies or other appropriate footwear, warm/waterproof clothing (there's no shelter on site) and bring a camping mug, gardening gloves, and a shovel if you've got one. There's plenty of room for kids to run around, but please keep an eye on them!

We've always planned to have lots of edibles at Clay Park, and this is our first phase of planting. Funds came from our Postcode Local Trust grant, which also paid for the hedge laying and stone-faced hedge bank building workshops we've held, the results of which you can see on Sunday, and hedgerow maintenance.

What are we planting? Apples, pears, plums (including Dittisham Ploughman, below!), cherries, walnuts, and elders, sourced from Martin Crawford and Thornhayes.

Directions: Clay Park is on the A385 between Totnes and Dartington, after the Puddavine retirement home on the left (coming from Totnes), and nearly opposite the Jehovah's Witness hall. There's no parking on site but you can park nearby outside the Atmos hub. If you need to drop off, there is a layby opposite, and the Stagecoach Gold bus stops very close by.