Corgyncombe Apple Orchard

Corgyncombe Bakery and Orchard

Apples from Diane's favorite tree at The Corgyncombe Orchard.

The apples that grow at The Corgyncome Orchard are organic.

When Diane bakes a pie she often uses old New England Table Talk Flaky Crust Pie tins. Sometimes these tins have a deposit amount of five or ten cents stamped in the tin.

An action photograph of the White Mountain Apple Parer, Corer, and Slicer. The peels were just whizzing off!

The apples with the sugar and spice mixture dotted with the Corgyncombe Dairy Goat Carmella Lucille's butter. The old wooden rolling pin was Diane's grandmum's. In "The Tasha Tudor Cookbook", at the beginning of the Christmas Treats chapter, there are apples, apple peelings, a rolling pin, and an apple pie illustrated by Tasha at the bottom of the page.

The top pastry crust has been added and crimped round the edge.

The pie has been baked and placed into the old pie basket to enjoy at a pleasant outdoor Autumnal tea.

Apples are a frequent subject in Tasha Tudor's illustrations. They easily and beautifully show and fit in with the loveliness that she is known for and the celebration of Autumn where work goes hand in hand with play.
Some of her books with apples are:

"The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac", written by Mary Mason Campbell and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, dust jacket cover features a boy in the apple orchard with baskets and baskets full of apples. Inside, at the beginning of the September chapter, is an illustration of children picking apples in the orchard. A girl is putting apples that she has gathered in her apron, into a large basket with a helpful corgi watching. A boy is carrying a small basket of apples to be emptied into a larger basket.

Tasha Tudor's "1 is One" features a little girl in a bonnet, carrying a basket as she reaches up to pick one of the 7 apples on the tree. On the opposite page is one of The Corgyncombe Courant's favorite illustrations: the seven apples and the basket by an old crock decorated with a bird. Both pages are bordered with lovely pink apple blossoms.

The favorite apple tree in May.

In "The New England Butt'ry Shelf Cookbook", written by Mary Mason Campbell and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, caramel apples are illustrated on the table of Hallowe'en party treats, as well as a basket full of apples beside the door. In the color Christmas illustration, apples in a yellowware milk pan are sitting on a box, whilst a corgi looks longingly at the treats on the shelf above.

Sarah was the model for Tasha Tudor's illustrations of the little girl Kathy in "The Real Pretend".

In "The Real Pretend", written by Joan Donaldson and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, apples surround the pages as Kathy is visiting her neighbor Mrs. Rose who is busy by the clothes line. At the bottom of the oval border around one of the pictures is a yellowware milk pan full of apples and on the other page is a small basket of apples with a rooster pecking at an apple on the ground. Apples also surround the old school scene pages, along with the children's old fashioned lunches packed in baskets. On another page, there is also an illustration of Kathy crying in the kitchen. As she sits at the table, kittens play in and around a large basket of apples beneath the table and a cat rests in another mustard colored chair. The kitchen illustration is Tasha's kitchen at Corgi Cottage. In the store illustrations, a boy sitting next to a barrel of apples bites into an apple, as Kathy can be seen trying on a hat by the counter. On the opposite page apples in a basket are offered for sale.

Sarah sitting on a stile writing on her slate. Her tin lunch pail is beside her.

For September in "Around the Year", Tasha Tudor illustrated a rooster atop a large basket of apples, as the leaves fall from the apple tree above. Children playing around an old school house are featured for November. Inside the school, apples and children's lunch baskets are on the shelf, with hats, scarves, and skates hanging on the pegs below. On the October pages children are bobbing for apples.

Apples appear on the cover of Tasha Tudor's "First Delights, A Book About the Five Senses". In the book, Sally experiences the five senses in the wonderful, old fashioned ways of the country. On the "Summer changes to fall." page, the little girl Sally can be seen getting ready for school, her lunch basket already packed along with an apple and her slate, waiting to be taken with her.

In "The Tasha Tudor Book of Fairy Tales", Tasha Tudor illustrated Red Riding Hood carrying her basket of goodies for her Grandmum. From the bed, "Grannie" is looking at Red Riding Hood in a very hungry manner. "Grannie" looks very much like a bigger Lydia Corgi with a bonnet on... the nose, the whiskers, the smile, the tongue, the ears, and the white paw... but Lydia does not have a big bushy tail. "Grannie's" bedroom is filled with old fashioned things and is bordered by apples, a robin, a chipmunk, a wren, and a mouse.

On the October pages, apples in abundance are to be found in "Rosemary for Remembrance", illustrated by Tasha Tudor. In the corners apples border the page, as a man peels an apple in the barn whilst a boy, girl, and corgi watch. The pages also contain many baskets of apples, a straw hat, sunbonnet, farm tools, a jug, and a darling sleeping corgi. A yellowware milk pan with apples is in on the kitchen table of the December page, as a woman, girl, boy, and two corgis admire the baby in the cradle.

In Tasha Tudor's illustrations of September in "A Time to Keep", apples and purple asters border the doll fair, which shows several dolls and stuffed animals that attend the fair. October features cider pressing with baskets of apples and jugs, and bobbing for apples.

In Tasha Tudor's "Seasons of Delight, A Year on an Old-Fashioned Farm", apples are prominent in many of the activities Tasha illustrates for Autumn: Apples in profusion being gathered in the orchard, cider pressing, and bobbing for apples. In the text Tasha says in Autumn "It's time for picking apples, for making cider, and baking apple pies."

The delightful gentle movement of the wind made tea even more lovely. In the mottled sunshine with the leaves drifting down an outdoor Autumnal tea with apple pie is enjoyed.

In "The Night Before Christmas", 1975 version illustrated by Tasha Tudor, on the page with the words: "A bundle of toys he had flung on his back," in one corner Tasha Tudor illustrated apples by a piece of pie covered by a screen.

That reminds the Corgyncombe Courant that this summer they had a serendipitous find of many of Tasha's old cards and an Advent Calendar that they did not have. Our readers will have to wait 'til later to share the joys of these wonderful finds.

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