Community orchard to be planted in Tewkesbury’s Joan’s Field
It’s spades at the ready in Tewkesbury as the Count Me In! team prepares to turn part of Joan’s Orchard in Northway into a community orchard.
Count Me In! – Tewkesbury’s Government-funded Healthy Towns programme - has been working with Northway Parish Council, Gloucestershire Orchard Group and Northway Area Residents' and Homeowners' Association (NARHA) over the past six months to prepare the land in time for spring planting.
On Saturday, March 20, volunteers from Northway will be led by Count Me In! Growing Places officer Jo Worthy-Jones, from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, in the planting of the orchard.
The plot will be planted with approximately 20 trees with a range of varieties including Ashmead’s Kernel and Bleinheim Orange and the orchard will be ready to harvest in around four years.
Jo Worthy-Jones, from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, who is leading the Count Me In! Growing Places scheme, said: “I’m delighted to be working with Northway Parish Council and NARHA to turn what was once the just the idea of an orchard, into a reality for the whole Northway community. Not only will it give local people fresh fruit on their doorstep, it will improve the area for wildlife.
“A lot of people have been involved in making it happen including Tewkesbury Borough Council and Severn Vale Housing, and I would like to thank them very much for their support.”
The orchard has been funded through the CMI programme and Northway Parish Council. Chair of the Parish, Councillor Joy Shillam, said: “Northway Parish Council is happy to fund the fruit trees and hope in the future to plant flowers at the orchard.”