We have now finished the preparitory work for the orchard that we are planting as part of the Speckled Wood project, and are looking for fruit tree sponsors.
There is nothing quite like a traditional orchard, they are so beautifull when the blossom is out, they are a fantastic resource for all sorts of wildlife, and lets not forget the fruit they produce. There used to be quite a few orchards around Haslemere but they pretty much all dissapeared as the town expanded in the twentieth centuary. We planted one behind the High Street a few years back and it is just starting to bear fruit, its well worth a visit any time, but can really raise your spirits in the spring.
Now we want to plant another one in front of the basecamp. We have selected the varieties and put up the tree cages, we will be planting later in the winter.
We have often planted memorial tree’s for a standard charge on Black Down over the years, and now thought that the orchard might be a positive way of helping to raise funds for the Speckled Wood building. We have covered the costs of the orchard through staff and volunteer time and by using materials produced here on the Black Down Estate. We can therefore offer the oppotunity to sponsor a tree and promise that all of the money raised will go straight to the Speckled Wood building project. We are asking for £250 per tree and for that will be putting sponsors names on the tree labels and will show sponsors their tree so they can come and visit it and sample its fruit in the future.
If you have sufficient means and are interested you can visit the sponsor a tree page on this blog, click on the button at the top of this page. If you can’t afford to help by sponsoring a tree you might still be interested to see the list of varieties that will be going in. Its going to be stunning at blossom time, and fingers crossed in a few years it will be bountifull at fruit picking time.
