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Steyning Community Orchard – March News

On a dark and damp January evening, shadowy figures congregated around a group of mysterious masked and ribbon-adorned people. The annual Wassail had begun!

Wassail literally means ‘to toast the health’ and comes from the Anglo Saxon ‘waes haeil’. Apple tree wassailing is an ancient ceremony of toasting the orchard trees in order to encourage a good crop and to chase away bad spirits. Traditionally the largest tree in the orchard is decorated with lights and used as a focus for the celebrations. Cider is poured on the roots of the tree and pieces of toast soaked in cider are hung from its branches while the wassailers sing a toast to the tree. Lastly, the group make as much noise as possible to wake up the trees!

Steyning Community Orchard annual Wassail took place on Saturday 20thJanuary. Despite the rain and mud, around 125 people gathered outside the cricket club before heading up to the Orchard in the south west corner of the memorial playing field. The largest tree in the orchard was beautifully decorated with candles and the evening was led by Mythago Morris with explanation of the history and ceremony of the wassail. The group toasted the orchard with cider, verse and songs before returning to the cricket club to enjoy homemade soup and live music. The music was provided by three local bands, The Cheer Up Mollies, Woodshedders and Maurice Sherlock who did a brilliant job of entertaining a packed cricket club.
Thank you to all who came along and made it such a success.

Fruit Map
Our Fruit Mapis growing all the time and so far we have 47 different sites registered with over 43 different varieties of apples. We are still adding to it though, so if you want to let us know about your trees, just drop us an email with the trees and varieties (if you know them). The latest map can be viewed on our webpage under the news section.

Recent events
If you have been walking around the Big Picnic field / Rifle Range recently you will see that our collaborative project with the Steyning Downland Scheme is taking shape. An area has been fenced off to plant an orchard and children’s play area. Three trees were planted last winter with another five to be planted on 3rdMarch. Tree varieties for this orchard have been chosen to have tastes, colour and ripening season but all on dwarf root stocks, making them easy for children to reach!
By the time you have read this, the first trees will have been planted in the Bramber Community Orchard. We are delighted to have assisted in the planning and planting of this new local orchard.

Upcoming events
Saturday 3rd March 2018: Tree planting in the Downland Community Orchard
Saturday 6th October 2018: Apple Day
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