ABOUT DROVE ORCHARDS

We planted our first apple trees a little after WW2 and until recently, most of our apples found their way to you via supermarkets. However, as supermarkets demand year-round supply we found we were increasingly concerned about the quality of what we were being asked to produce. To make an apple picked in the autumn last to the following summer, it has to be picked when up-ripe and stored in C02. By the time it is retailed, much of its unique quality is lost, along with freshness and flavour, seeming to be simultaneously un-ripe and past its best.

As a result, we now only sell fruit and vegetables to you directly from the Drove Orchard Farm Shop, or via a few farmers markets. We have been producing our own apple juice for some time, pressed locally in small quantities. However, we have recently bought our own press so we now produce everything on the farm.

The first apples, Discovery, ripen around the middle of August, while the last, D' Arcy Spice, are not ready until the end of October. Our range of apple juice complements the many different flavours from fresh Discovery, through sweet St. Edmunds or Egremont Russet, complex Cox's Orange Pippin, dryer Bramley to the aptly named D'arcy Spice. In all, we bottle nine varieties of apple, each one picked when tree-ripe and pressed in small batches to ensure its freshness and flavour. We also bottle our own pear juice and make a number of different blends from our Quinces and other fruit. We add no colouring, sweeteners or preservatives: the fruit is pressed and gently pasteurized to retain its individual taste.

Drove Orchards cover around 30 acres. They are well signed and descriptions of the many different fruit trees are easily available. However, if you want to have a more structured visit, get in touch, schools visits are particularly welcome.

NEWS & EVENTS