On Sunday 28th April we are having a Dawn Chorus Gathering, meeting at the Orchard field at 5.00 am. Join us in listening to the chorus, and watching out for birds living near the field and by the river. Bring binoculars if you have them. Drinks and light breakfast will be provided at the Reading Room afterwards (about 7am). Everyone is welcome, but drop us a line (see Contact information) if you are coming so we have an idea of numbers.
Spring has sprung in the Ovingham Community Orchard! The apple trees all have leaf buds and some of the early varieties have blossom buds too, can’t wait to see what they look like in a week or two. The autumn raspberries are showing signs of life too.
Our little daffodils have come up too, with a few cheerful blooms showing – native bulbs take a while to get going, but next year there should be many more. Many thanks to those who have added snowdrops ‘in the green’ near the hedge and gate, again, should look great next year and provide pollen for early bees.
In February 2018 a small group of people from the village, on seeing that the Parish Council owned field by the village green was up for the rent formulated the idea of establishing a community orchard for Ovingham. A proposal was put to the Parish Council and it was agreed that we could go ahead with an application to the Tree Council for 24 apple trees, whilst trying to get approval for the idea from people in Ovingham.
In March an application was submitted for the trees and planting supports.
A survey was then carried out in the village to see what support there was for the idea and 73 forms were returned with positive responses.
An information Open Day was held in May 2018 to consult with the village, and again the response from the village was very positive. It was well attended with over 50 people coming on the day. Ovingham Community Orchard was in progress.
In July the village cub pack helped to survey the plants growing on the field, and made a list of insects found and birds heard nearby.
In July we heard that our application to the Tree Council had been successful and we decided to proceed with formalising OCO, writing a Constitution, and went back to the Parish council to start negotiating a Licence Agreement for the land for an initial period of 5 years. The Parish Council agreed to give £300 to help with the start-up costs.
Welcome to Ovingham Community Orchard!
The aim is to provide a communal amenity for the village which will provide a harvest of fruit, blossom for bees and increase the biodiversity of the site and provide homes for wildlife. Everyone will be welcome to use the field for their leisure, watch the trees grow, and enjoy the harvest in the future.
Local children have been encouraged to get involved through links to the First and Middle Schools and Ovingham First Cub pack.
Ovingham Community Orchard 