Blossom Day
This was a big day in our calendar! It was held at Overton Farm, Crossford. We showcased our delicious apple juice at this very popular farmers' market. A great opportunity to promote what we do. We sold our juice, gave advice on orchard/tree planting and much more. We hope this very popular day resumes and will advise when dates are confirmed to us.
INVITED TALKS
We are contacted throughout the year with requests to give talks on aspects of our work by schools, recreational groups and organisations. If this is something that may be of interest to you then please get in touch and we will see what we can do. We hope to resume this service and will advise when we know dates.
Fruit Day
Clyde Valley Orchard Cooperative attends the Clyde Valley Fruit Day held at Overton Farm, near Crossford,
Clyde valley orchard cooperative ltd
We are a group of enthusiastic orchard lovers and owners based in the Clyde Valley around Lanark. The cooperative’s aim is to retain, maintain and replant the historic orchards of our area in a way that is relevant to the needs of this beautiful part of Scotland. The history of fruit growing in this area goes back many hundreds of years and through our work we aim to ensure that future generations will enjoy the blossom, fruit and unique landscape that has been part of our heritage for many decades to come.
We hope this website provides a valuable resource of information on the orchards of the Clyde Valley. It is designed for both local people and visitors to the area. So whether you own an orchard or garden, want to get more involved in outdoor activities, or simply want to find out more about this special feature of the Clyde Valley, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Here are some of the initiatives we have already achieved through various Grant Funding, Member and volunteer contributions.
- Planted over 2000 fruit trees in the local area – reviving old orchards and creating a new community one at Kirkfieldbank.
- Set up a small production operation to process local apples to sell as juice.
- We now supply our juice to various small outlets around the Clyde Valley.
- We participate and support local ‘event’ days within the locality.
- We facilitate a range of free training programmes connected with the growing and maintenance of trees/orchards.
- Deliver educational talks to local community groups and schools.
- Find ways to partner local groups, e.g. CCI, South Lanarkshire Beekeepers.
- Contributed to local foodbanks during lockdown.
The Clyde valley
Fruit trees are a common sight along the middle reaches of the Clyde Valley with the village of Hazelbank at the heart of the main orchard area.
For more information on events, travel and wildlife in South Lanarkshire see the following websites.
- Visit Lanarkshire (Lots of information on events, accommdation, and travel in Lanarkshire)
- Scottish Natural Heritage (Strathclyde & Ayrshire Area website)
orchard news
A new Community Orchard for Crossford
A new Community Orchard has been planted in Crossford. Members of CVOC and local residents from Crossford planted a brand new orchard of 19 apple trees on South Lanarkshire Council land between Braidwood Road and Graham Road. It’s a lovely sheltered, south facing site and although the trees are one year maidens and currently look small, in time it should develop into a great addition to the village.
A big THANK YOU to all who helped , particularly the children from Underbank Primary and to SLC for their support.
Kirkfieldbank Community Orchard – New Trees
During February CVOC volunteers planted 72 new trees and pruned all the established trees in the orchard. We have tried something new with this planting. The apple trees have been planted close together in straight rows. As they develop they will be trained into espaliers. This is a horizontal format which will make picking very easy as the trees mature.
Funding Award
CVOC were granted an Award to purchase trees through a successful bid to the “Growing Food Together Fund” from Green Action Trust/Central Scotland Green Network. This enabled the purchase of 60 new apple trees and SLC provided a further 12 and CVOC a further 19 for the planting at Crossford and Kirkfieldbank. The apple varieties planted this time Discovery, Charles Ross and Falstaff all of which do well in the valley. This means the CVOC and its members have now planted over 2500 fruit trees in the local area over the past few years.
Events in 2023
We hope to resume some of our usual events later in the year and will update this site accordingly.
Throughout the year we attend a number of public events and also offer to give talks on fruit growing in the Clyde Valley some of which are historical whilst others are based upon our own experience. Dependent upon the time of year we offer public Apple Juice Pressings where we welcome donations of apples for juicing. We also offer our own Apple Juice for sale at such events.
Our Events Calendar lists details of our various event attendances and talks
apple Picking
No Dates as yet
Members, old and new, are invited to assist with Apple Picking on our picking days.
In October Apple Picking takes place in Kirkfieldbank Community Orchard.
The land is rough and steep so please wear appropriate clothing such as sturdy boots and waterproofs please.
More information will appear later in the year.
Fruit Day
Clyde Valley Fruit Day, Overton Farm, near Crossford.
Members of the Clyde Valley Orchard Cooperative attend the annual Clyde Valley Blossom Day at Overton Farm in the October. There is no information for the 2023 event at present. We will post more details when it becomes available.