Sorry we've been absent of late - it's been a hectic year, but we've had great fun!  Here are a few photos showing some of what we've been up to since last year...

 

Our new Real Manx Cider - launching this weekend at the Food & Drink Festival!

 A single variety juice or a blend for any occasion!

 Elderflower Keshal

 Will and I in our apple tree nursery bed -  nearly 800 trees grafted this Spring.

 We were lucky to have 2 litters of healthy piglets - they've grown up fast since!

 A day's worth of apples collected from the Cooperative Harvest (featuring our new apple sacks!).

 Food&Drink Festival 2010

'Drink More Apples' T-shirts! (available on Facebook.....)

Hello once again apple fans!  Apple season is rapidly approaching and we at Apple Orphanage have been busy designing all our product labels.  We have finalised our apple juice labels and are now patiently awaiting their delivery...

To spare you all the suspense, we have created a wee mock-up of what our juice bottles and labels will look like; so feast your eyes on these lovely fellas...

As ever your comments are appreciated...

I hope you didn't think we'd gone away!

[Click the image to see it big]

So here is a massive update; our Cooperative Harvest scheme has come of age... It's taken a lot of hard work to get this sorted but we've finally sent the artwork off to print and can confirm just how the scheme will work.

Grab a bag, fill it with apples, bring  it back to us and well give you a fair share of juice.

How much juice you ask?

Use the simple Juice-o-meter on the side of the sack!

For those of you who'd like more details we're putting together a leaflet to explain the scheme further but it really is simple. You can grab a leaflet from us at the Southern (31st July & 1st August) & Royal (13th & 14th August) Agricultural shows and the Isle of Man Food Festival (25th & 26th September).

As for the sacks they're 28 cm cubed and made of a very tough, UV protected woven polypropylene. We've spent a lot of time researching the sacks; size (apple capacity of an average tree compared to ease of carrying), sustainability credentials (we want to be concentious in every aspect of the business and we're happy to say that although the sacks are oil-based they are recyclable but more importantly they'll last for years).

EDIT: 13th July We've just received news from the printers that they now can't guarantee the previously arranged deadline... Hopefully we will be able to find a suitable alternative.

The latest edition to the Apple Orphanage family!  Mildred is a Large Black pig, a traditional British breed currently labelled 'vulnerable' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust .  They are an infamously hardy breed (a point she's proven well having coped with ease through the arctic-like weather we've had this Winter!).

As Spring approaches, Lady Eglantine and her new companion (Miss Mildred Dabinett...more to come soon!) are enjoying the warmer weather and wallowing in the stream. 

Meanwhile, Will and I have taken a few hours out of renovating the Cider House to plant a few new apple tress!  Having been so impressed with the crab apple juice we pressed last year, we've planted two new crab varieties: the Malus Cheals Weeping, and the Harry Baker.  The latter is a new variety of Crab apple with green/purple leaves and large pink flowers, producing dark red apples with dark pink flesh; I look forward to seeing whether we can produce a pinkish cider with the addition of this fruit!