Fruit Trees Planted at Dinton Pastures Country Park

On November 14, over a hundred fruit trees were planted at Dinton Pastures Country Park, Wokingham as one of several orchard projects that have been planned across Berkshire, organised by the Community Council for Berkshire, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and supported by Wokingham Borough Council.

Local Berkshire varieties of apple trees including the Charles Ross and Cox’s Orange Pippin were planted. Orchards are particularly valuable to wildlife, providing food for bullfinches.

WBC countryside officers planted the trees with the help of volunteers from Thrive’s Growing-4-Life project. Thrive is a small national charity that uses gardening to change people’s lives. Dinton Pastures has a team of supported volunteers who improve and maintain the public gardens around the café, at the same time using gardening to promote health and wellbeing.

The Berkshire orchard project will establish community orchards in four areas of Wokingham Borough during 2011 and 2012. The Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £26,889, along with financial and ‘in-kind’ support from Wokingham Borough Council, will enable the creation of orchards in the parishes of Twyford, Wargrave and Swallowfield, and at Dinton Pastures Country Park.

The project aims to develop an understanding of the links between growing food and healthy eating. The project will involve:

planting 290 fruit trees in public open spaces

providing resources relating to the history, production and consumption of locally-grown varieties

signage describing the crops, nutrition information and an invitation to “Pick me”

local people gaining practical skills in fruit growing

helping people to understand the important role of orchards in Wokingham Borough’s past

ensuring that diversity and disadvantage is addressed through inclusive values, active citizenship and strong communities

establishing an online resource to provide recipes linked to the varieties of fruit available