Fowey Valley Cidery, in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, has reinstated its popular apple swapping scheme for the 2023 harvest.

Fowey Valley apple sorting
Barrie Gibson sorting apples at Fowey Valley Cidery

Local people are invited to add their excess apples to this year’s pressing in exchange for award-winning apple juice or cider.

Cidery owner Barrie Gibson says it’s generally been a good year for apples, with high volumes and good quality expected. Local gardeners and smallholders may be left with a glut of fruit.

Barrie said: “Everyone hates to see waste so, as we’ve done in previous years, we’re inviting people to bring along their excess apples, contributing towards our premium juices and ciders.

“With donated apples we usually end up with a good blend of sweet, sharp, and traditional cider apples, which happens to work very well with our own orchard mix in making up our Castledore cider.”

Barrie will only take apples from trees which haven’t been sprayed with pest-eradicating chemicals. And he has some advice for getting the most out of the harvest.

“Don’t pull the apples off the trees, shake them off instead. The apples will only fall off the tree if they are fully ripe. We’ve had a good run of warm sunshine in September, so that will have helped turn the starch into sugars, allowing the harvest to start in earnest around about now.”

Donated apples can be supplied in any container, but Fowey Valley does have string sacks available for anyone who wants them. Donations can be exchanged for apple juice or cider at the Lostwithiel site, with quantity determined by the weight of apples contributed.

Barrie said: “The exchange is a win-win, as we get some great apples for our pressing, and in return local people enjoy our delicious juice and cider for free, with minimum effort required.

“However, it’s also a great way for us to build knowledge of local cultivars and have conversations with people about their apple trees. There are many historic and rare varieties of Cornish apples which are sadly dying out. 

“If this exchange encourages people to keep their trees and understand a little more of their value, we’ll have done our bit in preserving an important aspect of our local heritage.”

Barrie and the team will be pressing from mid-September to early November. The production facility and shop on the Restormel Estate, in Lostwithiel, is open from 9am until 4pm, Monday to Friday.