The Orchard (Part 1: Grafting)
The apple is one of our most valuable crops - past, present and future.
In this project, fruit trees and agroforestry are proposed as a future solution in assisting biodiversity, preventing climate change and supporting food production within the UK - tackling our current faltering food system.
Benefits of more fruit trees include increased enterprise in fresh and preserved food and beverages, incomes and jobs as well as improved nutritional security. It has been proven that organic orchards can deliver significant carbon and biodiversity benefits, but that UK potential has thus far been poorly explored.
This project therefore investigates the possibilities inherent in turning an existing site in East Sussex from a dairy farm into an apple orchard. Framed around the research question: how to develop rituals of care within the orchard and uses the orchard calendar as a strategy to rewild an existing agricultural site? 'The Orchard' focuses on grafting as a methodology for building environments and (re)connecting us to the land.
