What's a Wassail? What was it like last year?

How do Fruit Trees Help Nature?

What else will orchard enthusiasts get up to in 2025? Would you like to join in the planning? Contact info@alwoodley2030.org

March

Sunday 17th - 2-4pm. Tree Grafting Workshop, St Paul’s Hall Alwoodley (tentatively).  Registration required. The purpose of grafting is to combine one plant's qualities of flowering or fruiting with the roots of another that offers vigour and resilience. Grafting means you can be sure of the variety of fruit and the size of the tree. In this workshop you will learn how grafting works and have a go at creating your own fruit trees. All participants will get to take away 2 apple trees they have grafted. The workshop will cover:

• Grafting theory

• How to collect and store scion materials

• Whip and tongue grafting of apple trees

• Aftercare of the grafted trees

We hope that next year, we’ll have enough knowledgeable people to organise a scion exchange!

• 15th March -  30th June - Fruit Tree Mapping Campaign. Throughout March and April we’ll engage the wider community in registering their garden fruit trees and suggesting fruit tree planting sites (both private gardens and public) on a ward-wide fruit tree map.

April 

• Sunday 14th - 10am - 3pm.  Veg and Flower seed/plant swap at the Alwoodley Farmer’s Market. Pop down to the Farmer’s market to find us at the Alwoodley 2030 stall. Bring your fruit/veg seeds and starter plants to swap and share.  We will also have pay-as-you-are-able-veg seeds on offer to support ongoing work of Alwoodley 2030 and Incredible Edible Alwoodley.  Pollinators/veg/fruit seed swap (Jointly with Incredible Edible Alwoodley). You'll also have the opportunity to sign up for our work party in June. Would you like to help out on the day or with preparation and marketing? Email info@alwoodley2030.org.

• Community Mapping Walk: A Guided Walk & Talk around Alwoodley 

• Friday 26th April at 10:30am and 1:30 pm

• Sunday 28th April at 10:30 and 12:30 

• Register here

•  Walk and talk to envision together how our suburban/urban landscape can be put to use for food growing and nature-based climate solutions.  We hope to develop ideas around how these spaces could be used to help nature recover in Leeds by planting orchards, or creating gardens for the community & for wildlife. We are inviting people to take short walks and discuss their neighbourhood with the aim of producing maps that captures not only the underused spaces but also the potential for changing these spaces into something more sustainable. Our ideas will be drawn out on a visual map by Dr Mikey Tompkins. See examples here. 

May 

• Orchard Blossom Day Picnic Celebration. Celebrate fruit tree blossoms (hopefully we’ll have times this right!) and enjoy blossom related activities.  Date to be confirmed when we have people who would like to lead it in place. 

June

• Thursday 6th June 10am - 2pm - Orchard Work Party . Clearing grass away from fruit trees in Adel Woods Orchards. Register Here!

September

1st - 30th  Alwoodley Community Harvest. Alwoodley Orchardists will come to your home and harvest fruit from your fruit trees and will host apple drop off points for fruit and bottles at various locations across the ward. All will be used at the Apple Press Event at the Farmer’s market. If there is a fruit harvest in our local young orchards, our Orchardists will harvest these as well. Open your garden to Orchardists for harvesting, or sign up to help pick apples here.

October

1st - 12th - Alwoodley Community Harvest. Alwoodley Orchardists will come to your home and harvest fruit from your fruit trees and will host apple drop off points for fruit and bottles at various locations across the ward. All will be used at the Apple Press Event at the Farmer’s market. If there is a fruit harvest in our local young orchards, our Orchardists will harvest these as well. Open your garden to Orchardists for harvesting, or sign up to help pick apples here.

13th October Apple Press Event at the Alwoodley Farmer’s Market. Bring apples from your own garden or from the community harvest and enjoy freshly press juice. All free and served in recycled (sanitised) bottles.

November

10th November – Alwoodley Farmer’s Market Stall in Partnership with 100 Nature Friendly Gardens. Distribute free fruit tree whips to 100 Nature Friendly Garden Club Members (if they sign up for them) and to wider community) through Woodland Trust Trees for Communities programme OR through other source (TBC)

24th November (Time & Place TBC) Fruit Tree Planting Party

December

No event scheduled

January 2025

Sunday 5th January 2-4pm. 2nd Annual Alwoodley Orchard Wassail

February 2025

Date TBCFormative Pruning of newly planted Alwoodley 2030 Trees (Ranger-Led)