First apples at Sutherland school orchard

The first apples from newly planted trees have made an appearance at a school orchard in Rogart.

Primary children at Rogart Primary School planted trees at the new orchard earlier this year and they are now beginning to enjoy the fruits of their labours.

The orchard was established early in 2022 with trees donated by Planet Sutherland as part of their project to establish community orchards around Sutherland.

Since then, the children have planted apple, pear, plum and cherry trees.

Class teacher Ann McInnes explains that the orchard has been situated beside their outdoor classroom so that the children can appreciate the trees whilst they are learning!

Ms McInnes added: "We also have a polytunnel and vegetable patches. The ethos of our school very much embraces learning in nature and we regularly use the beautiful natural world which surrounds our school including hazel woods, croftland and heather moorland.

"We now have apple trees, pear trees and plums. The children loved planting the trees earlier this year and we look forward to making some crumble next week at our harvest festival."

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