Visitors are invited to learn about apples and bees in the September sunshine at the Gardens of Easton Lodge.

The gardens in Little Easton will host Apple and Bees Day on Sunday, September 17, featuring a wide range of apple, bee and honey-related activities.

Visitors can have a go at apple juicing with volunteers from Cressing Temple - producing fresh juice to sample and take home.

Dunmow Broadcast: Specialists can identify local applesSpecialists can identify local apples (Image: The Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust)

Specialists from the East of England Apples and Orchards Project will be on hand to identify apples and pears, which people can bring from their own gardens.

There will also be apple and honey cake tasting, while local beekeepers will show hive, honey and wax produce.

Visitors can enter the jam and jelly tombola to win jams and jellies made with fruit from the gardens by volunteers from the Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust.

READ MORE

These include early-season fruits such as blackcurrants and gooseberries, mid-season plums and mulberries, herb-flavoured apple jellies and raspberry jam.

Cider will be on sale from the trust's Easton Countess apples, while volunteers will be selling fresh fruit and vegetables from the kitchen garden and local wood turners and gardeners will sell crafts and plants.

Dunmow Broadcast: Flowers at the Gardens of Easton LodgeFlowers at the Gardens of Easton Lodge (Image: The Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust)

Take Note Concert Band will play two sets at 1pm and 2.15pm, including classic Big Band numbers, Elgar's Nimrod and scores from films and musicals.

The band, who have never performed at the gardens before, go together five years ago and have since added to their brass and sax sections - as well as sometimes being joined by a harpist and double bassist.

On the day, families can enjoy croquet and garden games on the lawn, apple and bee-themed arts and crafts for children, and a trail to explore in the glade.

The trust's archivists are putting on a display about the history of the walled kitchen garden and the fruit grown there, with stories about the Victorian and Edwardian gardeners using a range of historic sources.

Hot and cold refreshments will be provided by the trust's volunteers.

The gardens are open from 11am to 5pm. Tickets are available from https://www.eastonlodge.co.uk/, through trybooking.com or on the gate.