Stephen Hayes - Legendary Orchardist

Why isn’t he 'Sir Stephen Hayes ’ by now? :slight_smile:

4 Likes

Just an FYI for you Stephen Hayes fans, he has finally released his book Tales From an English Orchard for Amazon Kindle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0765MZV5Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507373385&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tales+from+an+english+orchard&dpPl=1&dpID=61aYJfmk7tL&ref=plSrch

Its around 500 pages and should be an interesting read.

11 Likes

I’ve been waiting for this Speedster I hope its all I anticipate it will be. $5 seemed to be a very reasonable price so I bought the ebook and am reading it now. Thanks

3 Likes

You shall have to let us know what you think, and if it is more about fruit and growing and such or more of a memoir.

1 Like

So far what I read is discussing his life. I will let you know when I get to the fruit growing sections.

Here’s a recent video on the content of Hayes’ e-book. I wish he would print-publish it. I find the Kindle thing a hassle, and would rather curl up with a paperback that I can display/refer to on my bookshelf after the first pass.

8 Likes

I miss his videos. Even if he discusses the same stuff it’s still refreshing to hear his thoughts. He usually goes off message and talks about different things which I enjoy.

3 Likes

I’m about 1/3 of the way through it and it’s mainly been about his background and history. It’s interesting. Not written like a typical book. As you would expect from Stephen he tends to ramble and go off tangent. I’m now getting into the fruit/pruning/spraying portion of the book which is entertaining. He’s a very eclectic man.

2 Likes

I finally got a scion of May Queen, one of his favorites and it took!!
Knock on wood. Bless him.

2 Likes

I’ve gotten a little further in the book and he has a section where he talks in detail about each of the apples he grows. He lists them by ripening date which is really nice and does not sugar coat his opinions of them. He only grows one American variety and concentrates on English Heirloom varieties. I won’t spill all of the beans for those of you interested in reading it, but I will tell you his top two apples that he grows are Kidds Orange Red and Orleans Reinette.

3 Likes

I certainly do like the book. It reminds me more of his videos than a book about growing fruit. He gives lots of background on his life throughout the book which at first was tedious but I grew to like once I understood the style. I enjoyed very much him speaking about the many places he lived and his transformation into the orchardist he is now.

Best wishes for recovery to normal health in 2018.
Find your videos both informative and entertaining!
BB

1 Like

Same here. He was one of the people that got me started into looking into heirloom apples, him and an article in Smithsonian magazine about heirloom apples.
I wish Stephen a very quick and full recovery.

I agree with you. I prefer a real book rather than an ebook. Just does not have the same effect to me.

2 Likes

Every time this heading shows up I’m afraid it might be an obit…to a long and cider filled life Stephan!!

10 Likes

He’s building a pond now. He’s just a fun watch and as he states he’s run out of things about apples to talk about.

3 Likes

Hopefully Stephen is taste testing his perry pear cider right now. As far as I know the pears were his last trees he planted in a previously unkept part of his orchard. The trees looked great on the last video I saw.

Update:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0YLt93h_xZk

3 Likes

I think the same thing. As soon as I saw it just now I said , “Oh no.”

1 Like

Thanks Matt

His latest, a week ago

11 Likes