There are now 12 quince trees in the Quince Orchard after removing a total of 1o quince trees in 2025/26.  Plus there are 4 more quince trees growing in our Food Hedges and Back Orchard. It’s never easy removing a healthy tree and a decision we never make lightly, it took me six years of going backwards and forwards on making the call. Some trees were removed because of the location they were growing in and getting pummelled by the wind – the blossom falling to the ground without a chance to set fruit. Some trees were removed because pure and simply we have had a lot of issues with selling our quinces for a fair price, it was cheaper to compost them. When local eateries and bakeries swap backyard growers a box of quinces for a coffee the fruit is undervalued (this is not supporting local growers) and makes it harder for small local growers (like ourselves) to get a fair price.

Four Van de Man Quince trees were removed from the Quince Orchard in 2025. This variety was the first to flower abundantly then during the growing season the fruit barely survived on the tree, that’s a lot of small windfall quinces on the ground to easily sprain your ankle on. After years of failed Van de Man harvests we concluded that this variety was the wrong variety for this micro climate and made the difficult decision to remove the trees and utilise this part of the Quince Orchard differently.

Below, there is a brief description and photos taken from the 2019 harvest that may help guide you in learning a little more about the humble quince.

 

Champion Quince. Ripens: March-April, mid season variety. Cooks to dark red flesh, lovely big pear shaped quince. Originally from the USA.

 

Smyrna: Ripens: Early April. Very aromatic & firm when cooked. Roasted flesh turns a lovely dark red, with stands rigours of slow cooking. Skin lighter lemon in colour (although I can find this hard to tell !) large pear shape. Originally from Turkey.
My research notes say popular with chefs, it is definitely our favourite.

 

Pineapple: Ripens: March-April. Best for Jam, breaks down with long cooking, pale rosy pink. Fruity pineapple aroma, comes through in the taste when cooked. Originally from California USA about 1900. The quince look very pale in the photo but they are a more richer golden colour (for some reason the light was working with me that day and the colour was hard to capture).

 

Fullers: Ripens: Mid-Late April. Very yellow flesh with no grit. Sweet guava fruity like aroma. Cooks to a pale pink.
Originally from New Jersey USA about 1860.

 

Van De Man: Ripens: April. Squat, rounder much smaller quince and noticeably different to the other varieties we grow.  Cooks to a pale orange colour (not like the pale pink). No grit & lovely spicy flavour. Of the little Van de Man fruit we did sample, I would liken it to the equivalent of a cider apple.

 

 

QUINCES FOR SALE

Quinces are available for sale during the harvesting season of March through to late April. We deliberately hand pick what is actually ripe during those weeks instead of marking the calendar & picking everything at once that may not be quite ready.  It is such a slow process growing this fruit from seeing it bud & flower right through to the fruit setting & ripening, we are mindful not to rush the final stages.
We are generous when weighing quinces for orders; to be in touch there is the link for the Contact Page below or direct message me @fairywrencottage on Instagram.

 

Here is the link for the Contact page https://fairywrencottage.com/contact

Until next time, love from the garden.

Jude x