The Apple Orchard

'An orchard is not a field. It's not a forest or a copse. It couldn't occur naturally; it's definitely cultivated. But an orchard doesn't override the natural order: it enhances it, dresses it up. It demonstrates that man and nature together can - just occasionally - create something more beautiful and (literally) more fruitful than either could alone. The vivid brightness of the laden trees, studded with jewels, stirs some deep race memory and makes the heart leap. Here is bounty, and excitement.'

Pete Brown has written several books on food and drink, including Man Walks into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, and Hops and Glory. He is a regular columnist for the Guardian, Independent, The Times, Daily Mail, Spectator and Waitrose Kitchen, a judge in the Great Taste Awards and the Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards, and a frequent contributor to Radio 4's Food Programme.