Portmoak Apple Day in Scotlandwell, Kinross-shire, proved more popular than ever.
It saw well over 100 folk helping to bring the harvest in and eating apple-themed baking.
The event on October 3 was organised by Portmoak Community Woodland Group, who were delighted to be celebrating the apple harvest again, after COVID restrictions forced last year’s event to be cancelled.
The autumn fruits were picked, crushed and pressed.
For the many children who came along there were lots of activities, though most of them wanted to start the afternoon by picking apples and helping to turn them into juice.
Portmoak Apple Day organiser Louise Batchelor told the PA it was a learning experience for everyone: “One wee boy asked the best question of the day. He said: ‘Would it be alright just to eat an apple?’
“We told him, ‘yes, of course’. It’s easy to get carried away with turning them into something else and forgetting the simple pleasure of biting into a fresh apple straight from the tree.”
For younger children one of the most popular games was making animals and different constructions out of chunks of apple held together with cocktail sticks. Or the simple pleasure of drawing an apple and colouring it in.
For older children there was a challenging trail where they had to hunt for clues among the trees and solve a word puzzle.
It was an energetic occasion and everyone got quite hungry, which was just as well, as the catering table sagged under the weight of apple tarts, apple crumbles and apple cakes.
Portmoak men are renowned for competitive baking and a frangipane tart vied for top spot with a beautiful French tart.
Portmoak Community Orchard benefits from its location on the south side of the Lomond Hills. It is in a sunny spot opposite the kirk with woodland shelter behind it.
Apple expert Andrew Lear from Spittalfield brought a fantastic display of different varieties and helped people identify what apples were growing in their gardens. All they had to do was bring some of the fruit, as well as a twig and leaves.
He was pleasantly surprised by the size of the crop in Portmoak, as it has been a very patchy year following the frosts in May.
Chair of Portmoak Community Woodland Group Jeff Gunnell said: “It was really good to be back and it was great to see a lot of young families coming along for the first time. We even managed to escape the showers, so it couldn’t have been better.”
