400 fruit trees planted on 1.25 acres for new semi-commercial heritage orchard project within the Harrogate District
Prism Ag has been working with a client in the Harrogate area of North Yorkshire since mid 2019, taking care of soil sampling, arranging independent laboratory analysis of the soil samples, creating a bespoke orchard development plan to match the soil type and analysis results to the supply of trees for the client to self plant a new semi-commercial heritage orchard to produce fruit juice and diversify the agricultural business. The new agricultural enterprise uses a relatively small area of land, which does not hinder the viability of the remaining pasture or arable enterprises. With appropriate marketing, there are opportunities within a 20 mile radius of the new heritage orchard including farm shops, leisure and tourism outlets and direct juice sales.
The new orchard was supplied by Prism Ag' nursery partner, Grow at Brogdale and comprises of 400 x 3-4 year old fruit trees, all hand grafted and reared from native trees within The National Fruit Collection, based at Brogdale Farm in Kent.
Phase 1 of the project has established the orchard as semi-commercial and is made up of 350 x heritage apple varieties and 50 x heritage pear varieties and Phase 2 of the project will see the planting of more juicing apple varieties, plus the addition of Cherries, Plums, Quince and Gages taking the project into the commercial sphere with a minimum of 800 fruit trees on 2-3 acres of land.
If you have considered planting fruit trees or a new heritage orchard, whether that is for 10 trees or 800 trees, perhaps you are keen to add an agricultural diversification, aid on-farm biodiversity, benefit the environment or attract pollinators for other crops? Get in touch with Prism Agriculture on 0800 135 7450 or 'Make an Enquiry' on our contact page.