Edible High Town

01/11/2026

This autumn we’re making jams and chutneys for the High Town Christmas Fair.

So far we have:

Quince Jelly
Quince Paste
Green Tomato & Apple chutney

Find our stall somewhere along High Town Road on Saturday 5 December.

21/10/2026

It all started with the Edible High Town gardeners watering the orchard in People's Park...listen to project coordinator Konni talking about Luton's Orchard research. Monday 26 October at Luton Hoo Walled Garden, tickets at: https://lutonhooestate.co.uk/event/talks-on-monday-3/

Book your place now on October's 'Talk on Monday' - 26 October
Researching orchards in Luton - The community gardeners from Luton Edible High Town work hard to keep their local orchard alive. Investigating similar community orchards resulted in the recent Luton Orchards project. Join the project coordinator, Konni Dieppe, on a journey through historical maps, photographs and stories of Luton’s orchards from the past until today including a new apple variety!
These talks are a great way to stay active in the colder months - get out and about - discover something fascinating about a new subject, and meet new friends, and all for just £7.50!
For details and booking: www.trybooking.com/uk/122114

13/10/2026

An example in food resilience - by crowdsourcing the apples, the Luton Orchards Apple Amnesty still managed to get a harvest together in this challenging year.

The drought caused many trees to drop their fruit unripe, late frosts caused poor pollination in the first place.

But some people still had more apples than they could use themselves and donated them.

I find this shows how important local, decentralised food growing is - we need more of it!

Contact us or Luton Orchards for advice on how to look after your fruit trees in Luton and surrounds.

A massive thank you to everyone who donated apples to the Luton Orchards Apple Amnesty this year. The season has been challenging, and the harvests have been much reduced.

Even more impressive that we still received 388 KG of donates apples for juicing. The fruit yielded 349 bottles of delicious juice.

We also had another 120kg of apples for our apple day - without these, the whole event couldn't have happened. We're so grateful to the 22 people who donated more than 10kg each (you know who you are, I'll contact you for your free bottle!).

For everyone else, the next chance to get your hands on some bottles will be at the High Town Christmas Market on Saturday 5 December.

22/09/2026

Great gardening sessions last week - potting on self-seeded kale, testing out a briquette of 'instant compost' as the potting medium. I'll post an update on how the seedlings are doing - but I could swear, but the time we'd brought them home, they'd already grown!

20/09/2026

A new apple not just from Luton, but from High Town, discovered by one of our former volunteers!

We put 5 names out for the public to rank in order of preference, and 719 people cast their vote. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond.

We've had many great comments and other name suggestions, too, but there was a clear winner of the public vote...drumroll...and the winner is.....Clarendon Blush.

As one comment said: "Clarendon Blush suits the rosy highlights on the yellowish green of this apple perfectly."

It also commemorates the road it was found on and the many people who lived at this address, enjoyed the apples and took care of the tree over the decades.

We're now going through the formal process of registering the apple with the Register of Local Cultivars. Fingers crossed 🤞that it gets accepted.

15/09/2026

Only hours left to vote for your favourite apple name for the new Luton apple! Go to: https://www.lutonorchards.org/get-involved/new-luton-apple-variety

Voting closes midnight - help us name the new Luton apple: https://www.lutonorchards.org/get-involved/new-luton-apple-variety

10/09/2026

Cast your vote for the name of the apple by Tuesday 15 September!

Look out for us on ITV News Anglia's Good Morning Britain tomorrow! The cameraman has just left Luton Orchards 'headquarter' after putting the new Luton Apple in the picture. And if you haven't cast your vote yet to help us find a name for the apple, visit: https://www.lutonorchards.org/get-involved/new-luton-apple-variety

04/09/2026

Coming up this Sunday, we'll be helping with apple pressing at the Stockingstone Road Allotments Open Day & Produce Show. It's free and the weather should be lovely. Entrance off Stockingstone Road, no parking on site. https://maps.app.goo.gl/4Maf3AYxZBBaSbQd7?g_st=ic

01/09/2026

Help name the new Luton apple, cast your vote online.

Luton has a new apple - help us find a name for it!

A previously unidentified apple variety has been discovered in a back garden on Clarendon Road, High Town.

Laboratory DNA testing confirmed it is a new cultivar. We're in the process of getting the apple officially registered as a new variety, but first, we need a name for it!

We’re proposing five names based on where the apple is from, what it looks like and its parents. Find out more and cast your vote at:
https://www.lutonorchards.org/get-involved/new-luton-apple-variety

09/08/2026

A different kind of watering hole: thanks to Mariana Brown at The Bricklayers Arms for supplying liquid refreshment to keep 3 nearby fruit trees alive. We carried the water down to our Albion Court garden to slake the thirst of the apple and pear trees there.

And Chef Tuoyo generously donated water to us for the roses at The Peace Garden, which the takeaway backs on to.

This was all part of our new season of Sunday Sessions, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

You can be part of it too - join us at 3:30pm next Sunday at The Peace Garden. Details on the website: ediblehightown.org