OUR STORY
The combination of a strong connection to the world of farming and half a life time as a professional gardener stirred us to buy a ten acre field on the Somerset/Dorset border, even before we had secured a house of our own. The timeless mystique of the ever disappearing traditional standard cider orchard inspired us to set about planting one of our own and, over the years, the trees have slowly but surely come to fruition. Using vintage varieties, rather than those developed for the highest yields, has made the process slower and at times problematic, but the resulting cider completely eclipses any doubts we had along the way. We have an instinctive connection to the natural world and our orchard is run non-intensively in order that as much of our native wildlife as possible can share it with us.
While waiting for the orchard to produce our reward an older generation passed on but not without leaving behind, for us to discover completely by chance, the unique recipe that is the The Gardener's Orchard Fudge. It had remained un-tried for many years but, after a little trial and error, the tasting of the first successful batch transported us back instantly to the comfort of a farmhouse kitchen and a warm, family welcome. It is, therefore, a pleasure for us to make and a delight that so many people share our enthusiasm.
Our Cider Cake is a grand mixture of the old and the new and has been perfected through a fairly intensive process of 'in house' tasting. Good cake brings people together, almost at whatever time of the day, and however busy or frenetic our modern lives it must still be important that we gather for coffee and cake, or tea and cake, or cider and cake...
Our children having flown the nest, we decided it was time for another venture and set about converting one end of our bungalow into a cozy, self contained annex. It is here that we now welcome visitors who we hope will, like us, fall permanently in love with West Dorset.