Something very interesting is happening with wild apples down in West Cornwall

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- by FILIPA GASPAR

THE UK's first orchard grown from littered apple cores in Cornwall is blooming with more than 75 trees.

The Some Interesting Apples project collects apples from wild trees grown from chucked away cores - many from car windows or dropped from walkers and animals.

The wild trees or 'wildlings' are trees which grow from those apple cores discarded in hedges and along train tracks, footpaths and road sides.

Their fruit often goes uneaten or rots but have now instead been used to create a unique orchard.

The orchard has been developed from dropped fruit from more than 600 apple wildings in Cornwall. It has now created Wilding Mother Orchard - the first orchard in the UK solely dedicated to cultivating wild-grown, chance-seedling apples.

The Some Interesting Apples (SIA) orchard is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Founders William Arnold and James Fergusson worked with the National Trust and received funding from the Forest for Cornwall to establish the site near Helford.

Several taste testing editions have been held where the public selects potential new cultivars. The team hope to cultivate new types of apples that can adapt to climate change.

The project is currently working with Caitlin DeSilvey at Exeter University’s Environment and Sustainability Institute to develop ongoing research.