The Great Northern Fruit Moot – do it yourself!
Who knew the Pennine town of Todmorden could be the centre of the fruit industry for a day in February? Well 60 people who whose work is fruit can tell you that it was the place to be to learn lots, swap sticks, and meet other fruit workers. But why did it work so well?
Necessity is the mother of invention. In the North of England your neighbour is unlikely to be to trying to make a livelihood from growing fruit trees or fruit. So if you want to learn from other people working with fruit you’re going to have to organise a gathering. The conversations on a Facebook group (Northern Fruit Workers) confirmed that in our niche field there’s lots of innovation going on that it would be useful to learn from each other by being in the same room for a few hours.
The first “Moot” (an old English word for “meeting”) was organised by Alan from the Fruit Works Co-operative in February 2023. Bradford Council provided a hall not too far from the M62 and a trans Pennine train station. We had short workshops in the morning; a fine lunch and scion exchange; an afternoon plenary; and then retired to a local pub. You can see the programme at fruitmoot.eventbrite.co.uk (look for event details)
A couple of Calderdale workers stepped forward to organise the 2024 Great Northern Fruit Moot, which was bigger and better than the first. It was a similar mix of fascinating talks, lots of scions to swap, lovely curry and people who don’t get a chance to talk about their fruit tree work other people in the same field. We had a big pruning debate (“how, how much and why bother!”); delved into the challenges of British rootstock production; explored different ways that people are creating fruit-based livelihoods; heard about a unique collection of “long keeping” apple varieties; and shared useful information about the various government grants and subsidies available. You can see the event details at https://bit.ly/fruitmoot
So why does it work so well?
It’s a niche field. Not many people are trying to earn a livelihood from fruit. There’s other gardening conferences and clubs, but its rare to have a gathering of people whose paid work is mainly from fruit growing.
Grassroots and self-organised. Everyone at the Moot was a paying participant. The organisers curated a programme based on offers and some head-hunting, but really we were just hosting a space for conversations to happen. We tried to ensure the workshop presenters were as diverse as our field. This wasn’t a top-down conference controlled by gate keepers.We invite all to participate, and potentially run it the following year. The organisers of the first Bradford Moot worked with the Calderdale organisers of the second Moot. And the Calderdale organisers are already starting to work with the Manchester hosts of the next one in February 2025.
Passionate people. There’s some unique and quirky fruit growing businesses out there. Showcase and celebrate them.
Low cost: A simple hall and good food, supported by volunteer organisation costs £17. Great value for days “professional development”! Everyone is a contributor, including the organisers, so everyone pays. You can see the accounts of the events here https://opencollective.com/great-northern-fruit-moot
The first weekend of February is a good time for scion exchange. Most of the pruning has happened and we are preparing to graft. In the interests of biosecurity and traceability we encouraged people to include a what3words location of the scion source.
Near a train station helps for people to travel from across the North of England. Remote locations do make it more difficult for interested people to get there to participate.