One of the many events and projects taking place at St Ann’s Allotments, Apple Day takes place each October in the Community Orchard. Katherine Monk-Watts went along to speak to STAA’s Community Orchard Project Worker Richard Arkwright, following his afternoon apple pressing workshop, to find out what’s at the core of this celebratory event.
St. Ann’s Community Orchard, as always, is bustling with life and harmonious green spirit. Their alluring outdoor space is laden with childlike curiosity, eco-conscious individuals, but most noticeably of all… apples! As the cosy harvest season has gradually crept upon us once again, it’s that special time of year where we shift and settle towards a new sentimental focus - of rest, appreciation and celebration: of what we have, what we have achieved, and what we have grown together. And Apple Day perfectly encapsulates all of that, in a single Saturday afternoon. The beautifully scenic Community Orchard is made up of thirteen plots; with an abundance of fruit trees, ponds, vegetable gardens, a straw bale building, woodlands path, a welcoming campfire circle, and is home to seventeen different varieties of apples on the allotments. Established in 2001, the community project has been managed and looked after by the STAA charity, local associations, youth groups and volunteers on the historic heritage site.
Thank you, Richard, for speaking to LeftLion during this very lively apple afternoon! For anyone who isn’t familiar with STAA and their community events and projects – could you please describe what the charity stands for and what you do for St. Ann’s Allotments?
What STAA stands for in terms of values, it’s making this amazing 75-acre all-hedged allotments site, available to local people. People who live in an inner-city environment where maybe their gardens are small, or maybe they don’t have access to that kind of country-side type experience – so they can come here. We’re under the trees, we’re under the sky, and everybody’s level here and the same. We enjoy being outside, the fresh air, the fresh produce, and enjoy meeting in a different space.
If you’ve grown something, or if you’ve got enough food – you damn well celebrate it! So that’s what this is all about
That’s amazing. What was the eco-preparation process like for the apples in the Community Orchard?
Most of the trees here were planted here 23 years ago by local schools – St. Ann’s Wells, Sycamore, Sneinton C of E, and the Karimia Institute. They all came and planted the trees, but then over the years they have been looked after by the volunteers.
And the fruits of that, they just appear on the trees. Then it’s the rain, the sun and soil. And then we pick them, and we juice them. So that’s the eco-preparation: some humans coming together, and then just providing the right conditions for nature to do what it does best, which is just to give beauty, and produce.
What would you encourage to young people, or to anyone who is interested in volunteering for STAA at the Community Orchard?
We have a Youth Project here. We’re always trying to involve young and local people in the allotments site – for people of all ages. We have toddler sessions, all the way through to some of our volunteers who are retired, and really wanting to put all of their energy into something positive.
We’re constantly trying to create opportunities to engage young people, but also to reconnect young people with the natural world. Come twenty years, come ten years when climate change becomes more and more real, they’re the ones who are going to have to work out how to bring and make their own food, or how to reconnect with the life support systems that surround us.
How many Apple Days have there been now? What makes it so special to you and the rest of the STAA Team?
So, the first Apple Day was in 2001. That was in The Chase Neighbourhood Centre, (because this place was pretty much overgrown at that point) and we’ve done Apple Days ever since. But how long have people come together and celebrated a harvest? Well, that’s thousands and thousands of years!
If you’ve grown something, or if you’ve got enough food – you damn well celebrate it! So that’s what this is all about. The fact that we have food, and we have the means to grow and gather our own food, which is a privilege really, considering the situations that some people are in the world, and how they will be, given climate change.
What do you love most about apples? What’s your preferred way of cooking, eating, or drinking them?
I love apples. You can plant a tree – once you’ve bought it, for £15, (or £20 now?) and that will give you apples for the rest of your life - and what a deal that is!
There are 3,000 different kinds of apples. And I like the variety, the taste. For me, I like a nice Russet apple. But that’s another thing, there’s an apple for everybody! It's celebrating diversity in everything – it really is what makes the world go round.
Find out more about STAA via their website staa-allotments.org.uk
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