Who Are Growing Newbury Green?
Growing Newbury Green was formed in 2012 with the idle suggestion that fruit trees be planted on open spaces and parks in Newbury. With the agreement of Newbury Town Council we planted our first orchard at Barn Crescent that year and kept going from there! We now have over 60 apple trees in several sites around the town and awaiting our first major harvest any year now.
We have also created shopping trolleys filled with herbs and lettuces and displaying them around town to publicise the Newbury In Bloom competition and in 2018 had a larger raised bed sited on Lock Island by the canal to try out a more substantial planting of crops - have a look at the photos further down this page.
We want to make more free food available in the town - it'll be local, fresh and an asset to the community over the coming years. Please join us on this growing journey.
Next Pruning Event 2025
We continue our annual round of public pruning events in February. This is a great way of joining in and finding out about tree care. No experience necessary. If you have an apple tree at home and you’re not sure how to treat it, this is the day for you as we will be giving hints and tips on how to get the best from the trees. please wear decent footware if it’s damp and ideally a pair of secateurs. Other equipment will be provided by us.
2025 pruning events are:
Saturday 15th February - Barn Crescent orchard, south Newbury RG14 6HD at 10am
Saturday 16th March - Digby Road orchard, north Newbury RG14 1TW at 10am
Please park in Digby Road and not in the parking spaces right next to the site - some are for residents only
Wassail 2025
Despite the cold (-3C) and heavy frost we had a great turnout for the Wassail. This year we welcomed the Green Man to guide proceedings, with song and cider throwing.
Wassail and Pruning Events 2025
Our 4th annual Wassail and orchard prune is on Saturday 11th January at City Rec orchard off the Andover Rd RG14 6LR at 10am
Traditionally a Wassail involves shouting and banging pots to drive away evil orchard spirits, hanging toast on branches and pouring cider on trees to encourage a good harvest in the coming year. Usually performed on 12th Night, we're doing ours a little bit later.
Things to bring with you: a pot/saucepan and something to hit it with; Cider; Toast.
Following the Wassail, we'll also be doing our annual prune of the orchard, so this is a great way of joining in and finding out about tree care. No experience necessary. If you have an apple tree at home and you’re not sure how to treat it, this is the day for you as we will be giving hints and tips on how to get the best from the trees. please wear decent footware if it’s damp and ideally a pair of secateurs. Other equipment will be provided by us.
Other 2025 pruning events are:
Saturday 15th February - Barn Crescent orchard, south Newbury RG14 6HD at 10am
Saturday 16th March - Digby Road orchard, north Newbury RG14 1TW at 10am
Please park in Digby Road and not in the parking spaces right next to the site - some are for residents only
Harvest Events 2024
Thanks to everyone who came along to our harvests this year. We collected 5 trugs worth of apples which were given to the Waterside and Greenham Community Larders, handed out fruit to residents and had some less than perfect fruit that was juiced at Apple Day. Our most successful year yet.
City Rec harvesting
Apple delivery to Greenham and Waterside Community Larders
Apple Day 2024 - with Romans!
Harvest Events Dates 2024
This year we have three sites with a decent crop of apples, so we are running 3 harvest events during September as the fruit ripens.
Sunday 15th Sept 2pm at City Recreation Ground orchard, off Andover Road near St Barts school
Saturday 21st Sept at 11am at Sayers Close orchard in Greenham (on land between Sayers Close and Equine Way).
Note: if coming by car the best parking is in Equine Way on the Tesco's side of the site.
and Thursday 26th Sept at 5pm - Barn Crescent, off Elizabeth Avenue. An after-school early evening event.
We have done some test tasting of the crop and the apples do need another couple of weeks to fully ripen, so don't be tempted to pick them now. Wind falls are fine to use, but they are best for cooking.
At Barn Crescent we have 2 trees of Winston apples at the Middle Way end of the site that are not ripe until the end of October, so they need to left even longer, but are great for a Christmas crop.
You can download the flyer here
Grafting and Pruning 2024
At the end of February we were delighted to welcome Tim Andrews from Orchard Revival, to Newbury for our first ever tree grafting workshop. Several local green groups were able to tackle tree grafting and we each walked away with 2 trees with grafts of our local apple varieties. We are now waiting with baited breath to see how many of them take.
A few days later we out at soggy Barn Crescent pruning and staking. The water flow on the site has resulted in several trees leaning down the slope, so we took advantage of the muddy conditions to position several stakes ready to lash and ratchet the trees as upright as possible. Another working party is planned for later in the spring to complete this work.
Barn Crescent orchard Pruning Event 2nd March 2024
Our final pruning event of the year takes place this Saturday, 2nd March, at the Barn Crescent orchard, starting at 10am.
Location: The orchard is off Elizabeth Avenue -one entrance is near the electricity substation /car park area on Elizabeth Avenue, the other is in Barn Crescent itself just next to the new house builds. Parking is better along Elizabeth Avenue.
Warning; this site is very wet and muddy and good footwear is essential this weekend.
Pruning:
Come along and find out about the orchards and how we prune them. No experience necessary. If you have an apple tree at home and you’re not sure how to treat it, this is the day for you as we will be giving hints and tips on how to get the best from the trees.
All you need to bring is yourself, decent footware if it’s damp and ideally a pair of secateurs. Other equipment will be provided by us.
Please use the contact form with any questions.
Sayers Close orchard Pruning Event 17th February 2024
Our second pruning event of the year takes place this Saturday, 17th Feb, at the Sayer's Close orchard, starting at 10am.
Location: Sayers Close is located in the green space between Sayer's Close in Greenham and the Equine Way near Tescos. If coming by car on-road parking can be found on the Equine Way side and then walk down to the site - Sayer's Close itself has very limited on street spaces.
Pruning:
Come along and find out about the orchards and how we prune them. No experience necessary. If you have an apple tree at home and you’re not sure how to treat it, this is the day for you as we will be giving hints and tips on how to get the best from the trees.
All you need to bring is yourself, decent footware if it’s damp and ideally a pair of secateurs. Other equipment will be provided by us.
Please use the contact form with any questions.
City Rec Wassail and Pruning Event 20th January 2024
Growing Newbury Green presents the 3rd Newbury Wassail, at the Community Orchard at City Recreation ground on Sat 20th January - starting at 10am alongside the first of 3 planned public pruning events/workshops.
Traditionally a Wassail involves shouting and banging pots to drive away evil orchard spirits, hanging toast on branches and pouring cider on trees to encourage a good harvest in the coming year.
Usually performed on 12th Night, there are a few Somerset villages that celebrate later on the 17th Jan because that's Twelfth Night according to the old Julian calendar, so we're we're following this latter tradition this year!
So things to bring with you are: a pot/saucepan and something to hit it with; Cider; Toast;
With the two orchards at City Rec - our original apple one and tthe Town Council pear orchard - there's plenty of space for everyone. We will also have some pre-recorded music for the event.
Location: City Rec is on the Andover Road heading South out of Newbury. Nearest postcode is RG14 6LR. If coming by car on-road parking can be found in the surrounding streets - Wendan Road, Buckingham Road and Fifth Road, but look out for reserved residents spaces.
Pruning:
Come along and find out about the orchards and how we prune them. No experience necessary. If you have an apple tree at home and you’re not sure how to treat it, this is the day for you as we will be giving hints and tips on how to get the best from the trees.
All you need to bring is yourself, decent footware if it’s damp and ideally a pair of secateurs. Other equipment will be provided by us.
Please use the contact form with any questions.