The product
Whether our apples and pears are for eating, cooking, juicing, or turning into cider, we take the utmost care to guarantee their high quality and unrivalled taste.
You’ll find the produce from our orchards, including quince and crab apples, in our farm shop. With just a few miles between the two, this is where you’ll find the freshest fruit.
If you can’t make it to us, don’t worry – some Waitrose & Partners stores also stock our apples and pears.
August
Mid: Bramley apples
September
Late: Cox apples, Conference pears, Comice pears, Concorde pears, Catillac cooking pears
October
Mid: Golden Delicious apples, quince Mid-late: Jazz apples
The process
Apples and pears have been grown at Leckford for over 70 years. Today our orchards span around 14 hectares of the Waitrose & Partners farm, and their produce is picked from August to October.
Picking begins in August, when our Bramley apples are ready, with the rest of the crop gathered from September to October.
All our apples are handpicked with the help of seasonal workers.
The team
The fruit farm is managed by our Partner Colin: an experienced fruit grower who’s worked on the estate for over 25 years.
We’re also lucky to have the help of Partners from elsewhere on the farm, and across the rest of the Partnership during our busiest times.
Ethics & sustainability
As with all our farming practices, we adopt maintenance methods that work in harmony with nature and allow us to produce a sustainable, seasonal fruit crop.
We let the ground-level area in our orchards naturalise, allowing beneficial pollinators and natural pest predators to live and work with us. This keeps our soil healthy and our fruit tasty. Don’t fear, though – we monitor the onset of any potential pests using pheromone traps and target with treatment if needed.
Our orchards are flanked by rows of trees and hedges, which protect the fruit from blustery conditions while providing a habitat for local wildlife.
And any fruit that isn’t suitable for eating and cooking is pressed to make beautiful fruit juice and refreshing cider. There’s no waste here - wonky apples make superb cider!
Uses & benefits
If you’re rustling up a tart or baking a crumble, our Bramley apples and Catillac pears are perfect for cooking.
Meanwhile, our Cox apples are a smaller variety that make a fantastic lunchbox addition or on-the-go snack.
