Adam’s Apples is the largest grower of fruit trees in the south west of England. From our nursery at Dulford, East Devon, we bring our growing knowledge and expertise to the thousands of trees we propagate, nurture and send out across the country, every year.The nursery was certified organic by the Soil Association in April 2024. For the 2024/25 winter season our trees are not yet sold as 'Organically grown' because the rootstocks were planted whilst we were in the 2 year conversion period.
We are a certified Plant Healthy business.
We use green manures, mulches and innovative weeding tools as a way to avoid using herbicides in the production of our trees. We use long-term deep-rooted leys to create soil fertility as part of our growing rotation as well as flower margins and 'wild', unmanaged strips to attract beneficial insects and provide habitat for insects, small mammals and birds. This means we do not have to use insecticides to manage pests populations, relying on natural predatory insects to keep our trees safe. We have a huge population of ladybirds at our nursery which do a fantastic job of keeping aphid populations in check. We also have harvest mice, hedgehogs, foxes and a barn owl that reside at the nursery, keeping things exciting for us!
We don't use any artificial fertilisers in the production of our trees, nourishing them only with seaweed and kelp-based foliar feeds, which maximises plant health and reduces plant stress.
We have always done everything to ensure the trees that go out to our customers are grown to the highest quality and are ready to thrive where planted, but using farming and growing methods that don’t cost the earth.
An equally important belief to our way of running this business is that our wonderful staff are happy and well paid. We are members of the Living Wage Foundation, a commitment to paying over and above the National Minimum wage, in an industry that often expolits low-wage labour. We are proud to pay our staff well and be producing the best quality trees you will find , grown to the highest environmental standards!
We are also passionate about all things cider and are happy to share our expertise and experience! In 2018, Tom Nancarrow (nursery owner) won Supreme Champion Cider at the Devon County Show. Tom makes a naturally sparkling bottled cider (Pet Nat) that we hope to be selling at the nursery in the very near future!
We grow over 260 varieties of apple trees, 35 varieties of pear trees, 25 varieties of plum and damson trees and 15 varieties of cherry trees, plus quince, medlar, nuts and soft fruit!