Hadlow College students mark harvest success by making apple juice

After being planted in July 2021, the college’s three-hectare orchard had its first harvest last year, with students playing a key role in the process, and the result is the bottling of their first batch of apple juice. 

The juice is available at the college’s own events, such as its weekly plant sales and events such as the Lambing Weekend which attracted over 10,000 visitors last year.  

The students hope that soon their produce will be widely available across the county. 

Alan Harvey, head of horticulture at Hadlow College, said: “Our students have been involved in every stage of the production process, starting with the planting and planning of the orchard. 

“The students have played a key role in the orchard’s development, including planting, training the crop, pruning and conducting pest and disease analysis.  

“When the harvesting season arrived, the students gained hands-on experience with the equipment and machinery used for this process, making it one of the first activities they undertake when returning to college.” 

Even larger apple yield expected next year

The orchard demonstrates the latest technology in production systems, including a range of robotic equipment and sensors to remove much of the labour-intensive aspects but develop the highly skilled labour requirements of orchard management. 

The crops are always grown with sustainability in mind. Drones are used to monitor bud set, predict yields, and monitor the growth of the crop, allowing precise applications of nutrition and pest and disease control methods to be used. 

Mr Harvey added that he is hoping for an even bigger apple haul this coming year. 

“The orchard has been in production for about three years, and this year marks the first harvest. But it typically takes around four years for the crop to reach its peak harvest. We’re looking forward to an even larger apple yield next year, which will allow us to produce more juice,” he concluded. 

Hadlow College offers a number of horticulture courses, with students benefitting from a range of other first-class facilities such as a vineyard planted with varieties suitable for UK wine production and the Thanet Earth Centre of Excellence, a partnership with Thanet Earth and Growing Kent & Medway that aims to inspire and train the next generation of UK commercial horticulturists. 

Read more fruit news.