About Us

May’s cider is made in Much-Marcle a village famous for its cider makers and the annual Big Apple Festival. Some of the traditional cider orchards at Hall Court, are several hundred years old.  However, for nearly 400 years, the farm was renowned for its hops rather than its cider.  In the 1980s the price of hops fell and a disease decimated the hop gardens. A new direction was needed for the farm and standard orchards have been replanted with the help of the Countryside Stewardship scheme. In Herefordshire the rich red soils, mild climate sunshine and reliable rainfall provide ideal growing conditions for cider apple trees.

 

 

 

Eco Awareness

At a time when there is wide debate about the future of our planet, changes such as global warming, soil degradation and food production are serious concerns. The benefit of trees to the ecosystem cannot be over emphasised, whether in forests or in crop/food production. Orchards are incredibly eco-friendly for many reasons. The trees themselves are not demanding of the soil, but are able to produce leaves, wood and a large crop of fruit requiring very little extra in the way of fertilizer compared with cereal crop production. The ecosystem of an orchard is totally sustainable. Nutrients are locked up, carbon is offset, soil structure is preserved and in a time of changingweather patterns with heavy storms increasing river levels and flooding, trees help break the fall of precipitation and slow the movement of rainwater through the soil. Currently under research in this country, and already pioneered in countries such as India, are the possibilities for growing a secondary crop between the rows of apple trees. At May’s Cider we have planted a commercial orchard and it provides space for our free range chickens. Traditional orchards, in particular, are superb for bio diversity and provide habitat for birds such as lesser spotted woodpeckers, green woodpeckers, little owls and tawny owls. A flock of Mallard ducks regularly visit the orchards looking for rotten fruit and later, in winter, flocks of Fieldfares arrive from Eastern Europe - making a wonderful sight as they hunt for apples after the fruit has been harvested.