Once again it is our favourite time of year, when new shoots spring from the old and the house martins arrive for their seasonal visit.
This week is possibly the best this year. Almost all four hundred apple trees on the farm are currently in full blossom with a few others nearly there or very recently past their prime.
A sea of white and pink flowers greets us when we enter the orchard. Of all the Loch Lomond self-catering establishments we must have the greatest display of apple blossom.
Scotland used to have many orchards of varying sizes which were productive until the supermarkets came along. Many Scottish varieties did not travel well – and were not produced in sufficient quantities for supermarket purchasing. As a result, many old orchards were grubbed up and land put to other uses. Other orchards were just left to decay slowly. In recent years there has been a revival of Scottish orchards. The weather in Scotland is quite well suited to growing certain varieties and many new apple orchards have been planted across the country - be it for selling the apples, making juice, cider, jellies or just for enjoyment.
The orchard at Shandon Farm and Appletree Cottage is relatively young. We planted the first trees when we arrived in 2014 from purchased bare root stock. Since then, we have grafted scions pruned from the bought trees onto purchased rootstock, bringing the total number of trees to four hundred.
Visitors to our luxury Loch Lomond accommodation are welcome to take a guided tour of our orchard on request.
We have forty-eight varieties of Appletree. Some blossom earlier than others, but this week appears to be the optimum period – when every tree has something to show – some spectacularly so.
When the apples are ready for harvesting, usually around the end of September, we pick them and press them on-site. We bottle the juice and sell it locally whilst some of the product is used for making jellies, marmalade etc. Guests visiting Appletree Luxury Self-Catering Cottage will often find samples of the juices and jellies in the pack of goodies that welcome them on arrival.
At the same time as the apple blossom, we have a good amount of cherry blossom on the trees surrounding Appletree Self-Catering Cottage. There is also a profusion of Forget-me-nots around the grounds. This is a great time of year to holiday at Appletree Self-catering Cottage Loch Lomond!
