We start with the picking of apples and importantly this is a very crucial part of making a good juice. If the apples are not ripe the the juice has less flavour and less particles and thats where the healthy bit is.

So we begin with ripe apples and these are picked using labour coming from all round the world, which makes the farm a very cosmopolitan place in the picking season, it is hard work and the pickers are paid by the bin so there is a good incentive for them to work long hours.

Each bin of fruit is brought to the yard by tractors, the bins are marked so we know who the picker is and are also dated and logged so we can record the field yields.

In the yard Peter loads a bin of apples into the bin tipper which lifts the bin up and gently the apples roll out onto an inspection table where Peter and Marko inspect every apple as it goes past them, there are rollers under the apples which turn each apple to make this easy.

The apples then go into a bath of water to rinse off and are carried by a screw drive up into the mill leaving any water behind. The mill is a kind of grill with holes in it and the apples are forced through the grill by the apples following after them.

From the mill the pomace (cut apples) continue their journey towards two belts and as they pass the belts are forced together and roll around a series of rollers thus flattening the pomice and forcing out the juice into a stainless steel tray underneath and it is here that vitamin C or abscorbic acid is added.

The remaining pulp continues out of the juice pressing room by a conveyor into a trailer and is tipped back onto the land.

The apple juice is pumped from the tray into the next room where we pasteurise the juice taking care that it is not too hot to cook, but hot enough to give the juice a 2 year shelf life.

When we are making one of our special mixed juices, like apple and raspberry we use only fresh fruit and because we are totally taste driven that means if there is not enough taste of raspberries, then more are picked to get the absolutely best taste.

The juice is then bottled and labelled and dated ready for sale at farmers markets and sold direct to shops, dellis, bars, clubs, and caterers all over the country.

I hope you enjoy our juice, we have a lot of fun making it and are very passionate about getting it right,

regards David

Pruning on the farm is well under way and with over 40,000 trees to do, we find that it needs a good fast pruning team to make any headway. If you put 6 pruners into different fields, it appears that none of them are getting anywhere, but if they are all in one orchard they seem to fly along – so that’s they way we like to do it!

Our new cold store project is progressing with the building to house all the stores now erected and the roof and walls all fully clad. Now the concrete floor is set and we are using a specialist company to come in and do this. As the building is over 5000 square feet, once the concrete is laid, it has to power floated to give a smooth finish. This is then left for 28 days to get the strongest floor possible.

We’ve just made a new juice – Pear and Raspberry. This is the first time we’ve made a blend containing Pear juice – based on how fast it is selling; our customers seem to love it!

We just had our organic audit and inspection last week – a stressful time! Thankfully, we passed and we’ve achieved our organic status for the next year.

Don’t forget to get your Christmas orders in as soon as possible. A case of juice makes a great present – we can delivery anywhere in the mainland UK and include a message if you wish. You can order directly from us online over the phone on 01622 859272.