The Appeal of Mrs Toogood

Amateur adventures in orcharding


Orchards

  • The Curious Case of the Two Foot Apple Rustler

    Another day, another alarming photo on WhatsApp prompting a rescue mission back to Louth. Something or someone has taken some bites out of a Broadholme Beauty and I mean to find out who. You can’t expect animals to be aware of the intricacies of property law so I’m not angry, but I might have to Continue reading

  • Caving in to the Haters

    Last month somebody I once considered a friend made accusations about the honesty of this blog, specifically alleging that it was impossible to dig a hole three foot deep with only two spades. “You need an angle to get the mud out,” he said. “What you’re describing just wouldn’t work.” Well, check out the picture Continue reading

  • August: those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

    This is the first of a new style of journal-like blog entries that I’ve been inspired to try after reading too many books by John Lewis-Stempel. The plan is to intersperse them with my normal adventures but, so far at least, adventures have been notable only by their absence. Still, by cunningly setting a low Continue reading

  • Here Comes the Summer

    I’m getting slacker by the day with regards to this blog so I’ve changed tack slightly. I’ll produce a monthly journal style post and then occasional special reports when something exciting happens. Don’t expect a lot of them. If this tips you over the edge towards unsubscribing, I commend your wisdom and thank you for Continue reading

  • Aargh, no. Leaf Curl!

    Before I rose from an extended lie-in last week, photos winged their way through the ether depicting actual apples on my trees in Ticklepenny. By the time I’d had my weekly cold shower and dragged on the only pair of jeans I can still get around my stomach, my excitement had reached fever pitch. It Continue reading

  • Sometimes the Universe just sucks

    This has been a difficult post to write. I am not into horse riding. Horses themselves I kind of like, in much the same way as I like most other animals. I’ve developed a grudging respect for the prodigious amount of crap they can produce per day and the ability of said crap to delight Continue reading

  • New Year’s Resolutions

    It’s the New Year and a boringly obvious time for reflecting on times past and planning for times future. If you don’t want to read my ruminations, come back next week for more of the traditional low-rent apple excitement. Sort of. I started writing this nonsense in 2019 which makes this the beginning of Season Continue reading

  • After a brief hiatus

    It’s not easy to admit you’re wrong. Even when you get as much practice as I do. This last two week hiatus has been the direct result of realising that, a) lots of cleverer and better informed people than me have failed to find these lost apple varieties and b) a lost apples blog that Continue reading

  • Some corner of a (not so foreign) field

    Louth is a lovely place. Little shops, winding streets, and comfortable benches everywhere offering a brief sit down and space for a gobfull of pork pie. My parents have lived here since time immemorial (1974) and I did too when I was a youngster who still had hopes and dreams. Now they’ve all gone, it Continue reading

  • Cross O’Cliff Orchard

    This has been a big week for my blog. An extensive advertising/begging campaign on social media has resulted in me building a small community of follower (my sister) and a group of friends who felt obligated to click on the link and who are now justifiably concerned about my mental health. I’m taking my new Continue reading

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About Me

I’ve been writing about orchards and Lincolnshire heritage apples for over five years and still don’t know my arse from my elbow. This blog is supposed to be an almost humorous record of my attempts to raise apple trees in a field just outside Louth. Mrs Toogood is just one of the lost varieties I probably won’t find.