EATING AND COOKING APPLES
Eating apples often referred to as dessert apples are the main crop at Woolton Farm and we also grow a large amount of Bramley the quintessential english cooking apple.
Characteristics
Dessert apples are sweet and juicy with lots of flavour straight from the tree. Bramleys have very high acidity which makes them great for cooking but also a key ingredient in our cider.
Varieties
Cox, Worcester, Russet, Elstar, Cameo, Gala, Golden delicious, Discovery, Braeburn, Jonagold, Greensleeves, Bramley
Uses
The bulk of these varieties go to the supermarkets but we also use certain varieties for cider making. These are harvested by careful hand picking.
CIDER APPLES
We also have three heritage orchards where we grow bittersweet and bittersharp apple varieties. While you can make cider from all types of apples you might want to think twice before eating some of these.
Characteristics
As the names dictate some are very sweet and some are very sharp just like cooking and eating apples but these varieties are grown for tannin, astringency and other flavour characteristics that are desirable in cider.
Varieties we grow
Browns, Major, Broxwood Foxwhelp, Crimson King, Stokes Red, Kingston Black, Dabinett, Yarlington Mill, Medaille D'or, Gilly, Harry Masters Jersey
SOFT FRUIT
Over time we have grown a wide range of soft fruit including Strawberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackcurrents, and Redcurrents.
Today strawberries are the main focus which are grown under polythene tunnels to give them extra warmth through the english summer.
PEARS
Pear varieties that are commercially grown are conference and comice. As with the eating apples the majority of these will be sold to supermarket but we also make Perry (Pear Cider) from these varieties.
Recently we have planted up some trial plots with Perry Pears. As with the bittersweet cider apples these have very strong flavour profiles with lots of tannin and interesting characteristics.
ARABLE
Different arable crops are grown on rotation to help preserve soil condition and diversity.
Crops are either sown in the autumn to over winter or in the spring ready to be harvested from mid summer.
Crops Grown:
Wheat, Oats, Barley, Field Beans, Oils Seed Rape
