Old apple, cherry and pear
orchards have large fruit trees which make an attractive contribution to
the landscape in Kent and have contributed a great deal to the name ‘The
Garden of England’. In the Stour Valley there are now only a few old
cherry orchards and perhaps thirty old apple orchards. Modern orchards
have dwarf trees, which are easier to manage, but they are not as
attractive, nor as valuable for wildlife as old orchards.
Big old fruit trees have large trunks for hole nesting
birds such as blue tit, woodpecker and little owl. The reasons for its
decline are not well understood, but the decline of old orchards could be
a factor. Various species of lichen and moss are also found in abundance
in old orchards but not in modern orchards. The blossom and fruit also
provide food for butterflies, moths, small mammals and even badgers, and
of course mistletoe has long been associated with old orchards.
Locally produced organic fruit is not easy to find, but
the very attractive No Man’s Orchard at Chartham Hatch has Bramley
apples made available through local box schemes.
Canterbury alone used to grow 200 acres of cobnuts in
the not too distant past, but there are few if any commercial producers in
the Stour Valley today. Some of the old cob nut orchards still exist and
these provide valuable wildlife habitats adding to diversity in the
countryside. Kentish cobnuts are still produced in the west of the county
and these are available in local shops and quality supermarkets from
September.
Hop Gardens started to appear in Kent in the 17th
century and have been strongly associated with the ‘Garden of England’
ever since. One can easily guage the amount of land once covered by hop
gardens in the Stour Valley by the number of converted oast houses.
Shepherd Neame, the Faversham brewers, use a percentage of local hops.
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