Freely Fruity

07/06/2026

Freely fruity at the Royal Windsor Flower Show 2026 amazing coverage as always, by Joe from BBC South Today. It was a fabulous experience working alongside Claire Evans Garden Design. Her brilliant, completely edible design, partnered what we do as a charity beautifully.

Thanks to all of the show sponsors: Meadowmania, Woven Wood, The Prince Philip Trust Fund, KGK Genix, Osmose studios, Urban Planting Scheme, Wildlower Co, Hall Hunter Partnership, Project People, Keates Quarries.

03/06/2026

Brilliant first day of the build for Royal Windsor Flower Show. Lots achieved - hoping to move onto flowers tomorrow. Great team effort ❤️

03/06/2026

02/06/2026

Thank you to everyone who gives up their time to make our charity what it is ❤️

Without help from our wonderful team of volunteers we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. We’re more than a not for profit - no one takes a wage from the charity - everyone volunteers their time and expertise to help their communities.

If you would like to join our amazing team of friendly people send us a message. No experience necessary, just a desire to help.

31/05/2026

Shout out to these two amazing humans ❤️

My parents helped (once again) to thin out our 920 grafted trees. It’s vital to remove growth from the rootstock, remove any damaged and diseased stock and to control pests (there were a lot of 🐌 hiding in there).

The trees will now concentrate on providing energy to the grafted scions and help them grow.

31/05/2026

This afternoon, Carolyn and I were joined by two of the Emmanuel Community Garden regulars (Rosie and Phillip) as we fitted an automatic irrigation system. This should transform their growing potential and also take a bit of pressure off their fabulous volunteers.

Last Sunday, Ashley and I visited Emmanuel Church Woodley to pay our respects to a former garden volunteer Ray. After brief discussions with some of the volunteers, we decided irrigation was the way forward. One week later, it’s setup and running ❤️

30/05/2026

Team fruity completed their collection of samples of Heritage apple trees today. The final 7 tree samples were cataloged, ready to be analysed over at the East Malling laboratory.

One of the heritage trees we’re working on is located in Woosehill. We believe it to be a Lord Derby; but these tests will confirm it. The tree in question has snapped in half and is unlikely to last many more years - so saving its genetics is vital.

Preserving scions from heritage trees and grafting new trees to plant back into community orchards is a core part of what we do ❤️ 🌳

Whilst collecting the sample we came across a beautiful female stag beetle crossing the path. We moved her safely into the bushes to continue on her way. These insects are now classified as a threatened species so we need to do all we can to provide safe habitats - like log piles in our gardens.

We also collected our edible pond plants ready for next weeks Royal Windsor Flower Show designed by Claire Evans Garden Design

30/05/2026

Only 1 week to go ❤️

30/05/2026

Soooooooooo excited!! 1 week to go until Royal Windsor Flower Show

29/05/2026

Another busy day for team Fruity. We started this morning with a meeting discussing the final prep for Royal Windsor Flower Show.

We also moved the keyhole garden (constructed from pallets) and herb troughs (constructed from repurposed guttering) into position within our practice space.

Then this afternoon, George accompanied me to a heritage orchard in Surrey that we’ve been tasked with saving. There were over 50 apple trees, planted in the 1940s, that have now slowly died or become dangerously close to the end of their natural life. Earlier this year, we took 270 scions from 25 trees with the aim of grafting and saving the heritage trees still alive.

Today, we revisited the site to take samples from the trees for the purpose of DNA testing. We will then be able to accurately identify the cultivars we have grafted and then look to replant within the orchard.