According to the charity - The Orchard Project, there are 2500 varieties of apples in the UK. They have calculated that you could, if you could find them, eat a different variety of apple every day for six years!

I made this short bonus episode to celebrate the UK’s National Apple Day on the 21st October. First held at the old apple market in Covent Garden in 1990, and inspired by the charity Common Ground, it seemed an appropriate moment to mark the apple journey we have shared on Our Plant Stories. If you have been following you will know that the Peasgood’s nonsuch apple has a wonderful story and Denis Smith who I met in the walled garden at Burghley House recently, had some more information to share. I love that his visit to an apple day, twenty years ago, has given him such a passion for the subject and a desire to search for lost apple varieties. I’ve heard we might find some of them in New Zealand so if we have any New Zealand listeners who can shed more light on that, I would love to hear from you.

If you do visit an apple day or just find yourself searching for something a little different to a Granny Smith or a Pink Lady this autumn then I hope you too will start to follow some of these wonderful stories. Perhaps this should be the first mention of a possible Christmas present for someone who shows an interest, The New Book of Apples by Joan Morgan or maybe you could buy someone an apple tree - check out Richard Borries Orange Pippin website for some inspiration. Though beware - he was bought one tree and ended up developing an entire website - as he himself put it: ‘it kind of got out of hand’!

I’m still hoping to taste a Peasgood’s nonsuch, Andy Peasgood did rave about the apple pies his grandmother made but hey if not this year, next year.

And a listener - Linda, who recently ‘bought me a coffee’, shared with me where you can buy a Peasgood’s Nonsuch apple tree - so good luck to anyone who decides to plant one, let me know how you get on!