Orchard William Whiskerson

.

# William Whiskerson Mouse explorer

# Finds adventure Round every corner

# Where will he go? Who will he meet?

# His amazing adventures Will make you squeak!

# William Whiskerson Mouse explorer! #

Here comes William Whiskerson in his amazing travelling globe.

Greetings, adventurers.

I am William Whiskerson, the famous mouse explorer.

Today, William is in the countryside.

He can see trees and fields all around him.

But which part of the United Kingdom is he in today?

Cheesephone, reveal my location!

The Cheesephone shows William where he is on a map of the world.

Hello, William.

Today, you're in a county called Kent in the southeast of England.

Look, I've got a message coming through on my Cheesephone.

Hello, William. My name is Lucy and this is my sister, Laura.

Why don't you come with us on an orchard adventure?

That sounds like an amazing adventure.

Lock the location, Cheesephone.

The map shows William where to meet Lucy and Laura.

Explorers away!

Lucy and Laura are at an orchard.

An orchard is a place where fruit is grown.

Fruit can grow on trees,

bushes

and on plants near the ground.

William meets the explorers

at a part of the orchard where berries are grown.

Pleased to squeak you, Lucy and Laura.

-Pleased to squeak you, William.

-Ha-ha! Look at all those plants.

-Why are they all in rows?

-Because there's different types of fruit.

-Oh, so is there a different type in each row?

-Yes.

-Oh, I see!

The rows of plants are full of different types of berries.

Berries and fruit are full of vitamins.

They are very good for you - as well as being delicious.

Lucy and Laura show William all the berries

that are grown in the orchard.

These are blackcurrants.

And these are redcurrants.

-These are blackberries

-Aw, they look tasty! Ha-ha!

-What can you make with blackberries?

-Blackberry jam.

-Blackberry jam?

-What else?

-Blackberry pie.

-Blackberry pie.

-What could we have blackberry jam on?

-Toast.

-Blackberry jam on toast!

Squeakalicious!

The fruit in the orchard needs lots of sunlight and water to grow.

When fruit is fully-grown and ready to be eaten, we say it is ripe.

Ah!

-What are these ones?

-They're raspberries!

I never knew there were so many different types of berries.

There's still lots more to see, William.

The explorers show William a part of the orchard

where fruit is grown on trees.

-William meets Graham the fruit farmer.

-Hello, Graham.

-Hello, girls.

-William, this is our friend, Graham.

-Pleased to squeak you, Graham.

-Pleased to squeak you, William.

-What fruit are these?

-These are called cherries.

-Why are these trees in special tents?

These are polytunnels.

Polytunnels shelter the trees from the weather

and from animals such as birds and insects like slugs

that might eat the fruit and leaves.

Some trees grow in polytunnels all year around.

Wow, look at all these cherries.

These cherries are in the polytunnels

to protect them from the rain.

If the cherries have too much water, they grow too large

and their skins burst.

-Farmers call this splitting.

-Here's some that weren't covered.

-Oh!

Can you see where they've split?

It looks like they've gone pop! Hee-hee!

Lucy and Laura show William where the apples are grown in the orchard.

In the apple field, they all help Graham to thin the apple trees.

Thinning is where the smallest apples are picked from the trees,

leaving the ones left behind to become big and juicy.

The orchard has lots of other fruit which ripen through the seasons,

including apricots

and pears.

This means there is always something to pick.

Finally, Graham shows the explorers where the strawberries are grown.

-What are we going to do now?

-We can pick our own strawberries!

-Really?

Strawberries?

Graham hands the explorers punnets to put their strawberries in.

Strawberry pickers away!

Orchards like this one

sometimes allow people to pick fruit for themselves.

Then they pay for what they have picked and take it home to eat.

Can we eat the green ones?

No, William, the green ones are not ripe,

which means that they are not ready to eat.

They are only ready to eat when they turn red.

The berries in the orchard are safe to eat

but remember some berries can be bad for you.

Always ask a grown up before you pick any berries

to make sure they are safe to eat.

Aw, great, our punnets are full! What are we going to do with them now?

-Take them back to the shop.

-Great! Explorers away!

The explorers make their way to the orchard shop

to have the strawberries they have picked weighed.

Inside the shop, there are other people buying fruit

and vegetables from the orchard.

William discovers that the shop sells other food

that has been made and grown locally.

Like apple juice,

vegetables,

yummy jams,

fresh eggs

and even William's favourite...

Cheese! Squeakalicious!

The explorers also spot

the different fruits they've seen on their orchard adventure.

-Look, William, there's even more strawberries here.

-Awww!

There's gazillions of them.

Lucy, Laura and William have their strawberries weighed

so they can find out how much they cost.

That was a brilliant adventure.

-But it's not over yet, William.

-Ohhh.

After his busy day at the orchard,

Lucy and Laura invite William for a special cream tea.

Wow! What have we got here?

We've got scones with cream and strawberries

and some more scones with cream and strawberry jam.

Ohh! Squeakalicious!

The explorers tuck in to their cream tea.

You've got cream on your lips. Hee-hee!

There you go, William. Here's a pot of jam.

Oh, thank you, I'm going to really enjoy tucking into that.

I've had a brilliant day in the orchard.

-Squeak you later, Lucy and Laura!

-Squeak you later, William.

Can you remember where William went today?

William visited his friends, Lucy and Laura, at an orchard.

Can you remember what was growing there?

Berries,

cherries

and apples.

He even got to pick his own strawberries

and finished his adventure with a cream tea.

Time to fly, explorers. We're off on another adventure.

See you soon, William!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd