Cornwall April 2012

I visited Cornwall for a couple of days. A nice  long weekend and managed to visit a couple of orchards firstly Chyan Community field. Its a nice place set  in the Cornwall countryside and on a steep hill. The volunteers are better organised than I am, that's very clear. They have upto 150 volunteers and on the day I visited they were holding a course on medicinal herbs, which I would have liked to have attended.

They have planted a number of orchards at different times and its was interesting to see that they made mistakes in the early days and have learnt from the mistakes.
The first orchard that they planted a number of years ago they planted the trees far to close. Further orchards have been planted with much more space in between the trees. They  also have raised beds in which they grow vegetables for the local community. The raised beds were a pretty simple design not using expensive wood but rather the tree bark of trees and some supporting wooden frames. Because they are on a sloop they have had to be built at an angle, and seem to do the job well, impressive and worth a look.

They have lots of sculptures made from willow, which my kids loved, willow tunnels and a set of swings its a kid friendly place though I think some older people may have difficulties with the incline.

Willow structure at Chyan Community Field

I meet a lady called Betty who showed me around and gave me the run down on the project and some of its history. She is a very nice lady and I only wish I had more time to sit and talk.

Later that day we went in search for Kea plum jam. A speciality jam from Cornwall which comes from the Kea area.

Kea Plum Orchard

At first we visited the Kea area and talked to some of the people we met. Kea is made up of a small number of small villages and we met a couple of dog walkers and asked them questions about Kea and Kea plum jam. Most were aware of Kea jam and had no idea where we could get some and if it would be available in April. When we asked about the orchards we were told about Kea Woods and informed that they contain the trees. So we visited the woods had a brief look around but by now it was pouring with rain. Though the woods were nice and contained what looked various trees but not enough plum trees to make large quantities of jam.

Kea Plum Orchard 2

The following day we visited Old Kea and came across Kea tower. It's worth a look, a great tower covered in ivy. I meet an elderly chap who told me that the Kea orchards were in Coombe which was about half a mile from where we were and so we were off to check out the Kea Orchards.

BlueBells along paths in and around orchards

We found them within a couple of minutes and on route we found a house selling Kea Jam. We bought some and placed the money in an honesty box. £3 a jar.

The orchards were in bloom. It looks like the trees will be in full bloom within a week or two. Whist walking around the orchard I saw people gathering wild garlic, and some of walkers. The undergrowth beneath the trees is full of bluebells this time of year in some of the orchards. In others I saw wild flowers. My son and I saw pheasants wondering around the orchards and even a woodpecker.

Kea Plum Blossom

We also found a butchers farm shop nearby and stopped to pick up a couple of bits for a family barbeque that evening. The farmer who owns the farm shop was around and I stopped and had a chat with him. He was a very elderly gentleman who showed us his long horned cows and the Peacocks that he had been breeding for a number of years. He had started with three birds and had built up to fifty three peacocks at one point. However he no longer breeds them as the chicks aren't doing to well anymore, too much inbreeding, which is a shame. He was a very nice man who had lots of stories and information that he could share. Again I only wish I had more time, to hang out and learn and chew the cud.

Peacocks at Farm Shop near Kea