:00:07. > :00:15.All over the country, the race is on to bring this our food. It's harvest
:00:15. > :00:20.time! Gathering in the bounty of the land is the most crucial event in
:00:20. > :00:25.the countryside calendar. Now, as this year's harvest reaches
:00:25. > :00:29.its climax, it's time to see exactly what is happening with all our
:00:29. > :00:35.crops. Seeds of life to sustain us, fresh
:00:36. > :00:41.vegetables pulled from the Earth, fruit that is our sweet treat - all
:00:41. > :00:45.conjured up from Mother Nature. We will be discovering the remarkable
:00:45. > :00:49.craft and magic of farming, and finding out just where our food
:00:49. > :00:51.comes from. No matter how clever farming
:00:51. > :00:58.becomes, our crops are still at the No matter how clever farming
:00:58. > :01:04.mercy of the weather. Harvest 2012 was a disaster. After
:01:04. > :01:08.record summer rainfall, crops failed and prices spiralled. Can 2013
:01:08. > :01:13.record summer rainfall, crops failed our farmers back on track to deliver
:01:13. > :01:19.the food we all rely on? As the harvest comes in, we will reveal the
:01:19. > :01:22.results. This time, we're getting a taste of
:01:22. > :01:29.British fruit. We will discover which of our sweet
:01:29. > :02:00.treats has had a vintage year. Welcome to Harvest 2013.
:02:00. > :02:05.We're in beautiful Herefordshire at the, height of the cherry harvest.
:02:05. > :02:10.For me, it's all about the growing and the quality. I could never
:02:10. > :02:13.produce fruit like this at home, and definitely not on such a massive
:02:13. > :02:17.scale. We've been tracking the progress of
:02:17. > :02:23.the cherry crop on this farm all year. Now we are here to bring you
:02:23. > :02:28.all the action from the harvest. It is a delicate business: it
:02:28. > :02:32.requires high-speed precision picking and high-tech processing and
:02:32. > :02:34.packing. Gregg, you're going to have your
:02:34. > :02:39.work cut out today. You're joining Gregg, you're going to have your
:02:39. > :02:44.the harvest team. 40,000 of these they pick per day. Are you up for
:02:44. > :02:51.that? Are you fit and strong enough? Can I say, you watch! Actually, UK
:02:51. > :02:55.cherry growing is growing through a renaissance at the moment. Over half
:02:55. > :02:58.the cherry we eat are imports but British growers are fighting back,
:02:58. > :03:05.and these guys are at the forefront of that revolution. We will also be
:03:05. > :03:09.finding out how to grow super sweet strawberries, and witnessing the
:03:09. > :03:10.sheer speed of the blackcurrant harvest.
:03:10. > :03:16.Growing anything is always a gamble harvest.
:03:16. > :03:20.with the moods of Mother Nature. To food experts Stefan Gates gives us
:03:20. > :03:24.some of the scientific secrets of success.
:03:24. > :03:29.2013 has been an extraordinary year for our fruit crops. Starting with
:03:29. > :03:36.the long cold winter, and then the very late spring.
:03:36. > :03:43.We've been following the struggles of Herefordshire farmer, Andy Hunt.
:03:43. > :03:46.How has this year's weather affected the cherry harvest. We will bring
:03:46. > :03:52.you the results from this farm and all around the country. We will
:03:52. > :03:58.discover who has won and who has lost in Harvest 2013. All we're
:03:58. > :04:03.missing now is farmer Andy. I know he's out there somewhere worrying
:04:03. > :04:09.about his cherry. Let's meet him. Andy Hunt is a farmer with a
:04:09. > :04:16.singular talent for trees. He started out as a cereal farmer, then
:04:16. > :04:22.turned to vegetables. 35 years ago, Andy found fruit, and now he is a
:04:22. > :04:27.pioneer for a new method of growing cherry - whole orchards under cover.
:04:27. > :04:34.The cherry tree requires a great deal of care and attention.
:04:34. > :04:39.We consider almost every tree as an individual, so we have 60,000 trees
:04:39. > :04:44.that we have to care for. I've always been keen on precision.
:04:45. > :04:48.In my own garden, I like straight lines.
:04:48. > :04:53.I am even sat at the table rearranging my cutlery, which is all
:04:53. > :04:58.very sad, but that's me. What I find about fruit farming is
:04:58. > :05:04.that you have to be very precise. We build tunnels which are effectively
:05:04. > :05:11.buildings over your trees. So everything has to be planned, and
:05:11. > :05:20.that really suits my nature. Andy Ravishes months of meticulous love
:05:20. > :05:24.on his trees, but he can't pick the crop alone. At harvest, he's joined
:05:24. > :05:29.by 250 pickers and packers. Although there is a real buzz on the farm, it
:05:29. > :05:33.can be quite stressful. Tempers can be a bit fraught. We are all
:05:33. > :05:37.determined people here. Some people might say even obsessed about
:05:37. > :05:40.getting the fruit in. It is very important to our futures at the
:05:40. > :05:43.getting the fruit in. It is very of the day. The whole business is
:05:43. > :05:53.about getting the cherry picked, packed, and sold.
:05:53. > :06:00.This is where it started, is it? It is - 20 years ago. This is the first
:06:00. > :06:05.cherry we ever planted on the farm. Why cherries? We knew there was a
:06:05. > :06:08.market out there because all the cherries we eat in the UK is
:06:08. > :06:11.imported, simply because of our weather. They are difficult to grow.
:06:11. > :06:15.Nature tends to throw everything at the cherry. Is it a particularly
:06:15. > :06:18.Nature tends to throw everything at tricky one, the cherry, do you
:06:18. > :06:22.think? Yes, it's been the most difficult challenge I've faced as a
:06:22. > :06:27.grower. And all that knowledge and the rest of it didn't save you last
:06:27. > :06:30.year. Was last year awful? Yes, last year, we had incredibly low light
:06:30. > :06:36.levels which had an effect on the taste of the cherry, and of course,
:06:36. > :06:39.cherries are all about taste. I love about you, it's a complete love
:06:39. > :06:42.affair between you and the cherry, isn't it? It is, it has become
:06:42. > :06:45.affair between you and the cherry, passion, to be quite honest.
:06:45. > :06:51.Elsewhere in the orchard, pickers are hard at work harvesting the
:06:51. > :06:56.cherries. This year, things are busier than ever. The unusual
:06:56. > :07:01.weather has brought mixed blessings for Andy. He's got a bumper crop of
:07:01. > :07:07.cherries, but they've ripened all at once. In a normal year, the British
:07:07. > :07:12.cherry season lasts two months, but this year, he's faced with
:07:12. > :07:16.harvesting 40 million cherries in just five short weeks. The race is
:07:16. > :07:27.on. So what is it about the cherry that makes it so aluring? And why is
:07:27. > :07:30.it so difficult to grow? Not so long ago, cherries were our favourite
:07:31. > :07:34.summer fruit. Their tantalisingly short harvest only added to their
:07:34. > :07:41.appeal. The Romans were the first to
:07:41. > :07:44.cultivate them in orchards across southern England. But growing
:07:44. > :07:54.cherries commercially is tough. To produce a good crop of fruit, the
:07:54. > :07:58.trees need a lot of looking after. Our traditional cherry orchards were
:07:58. > :08:01.not fit for the supermarket age. The 60-foot trees were hazardous to
:08:01. > :08:06.pick, and, exposed to the elements, there was always the risk a whole
:08:06. > :08:12.crop could be lost to birds or the weather.
:08:12. > :08:17.The cost and unpredictability of the home harvest sent supermarkets
:08:17. > :08:21.looking abroad. By 2000, only one in ten of our
:08:21. > :08:27.British cherry farmers were still hanging on.
:08:27. > :08:30.Something had to change. These trees have shrunk because they
:08:30. > :08:35.look nothing like those massive ones we've just seen on that piece of
:08:35. > :08:39.film. Why? So we can pick them. It is the simple answer. The main
:08:39. > :08:42.reason we can achieve a small tree is by growing them on a rootstock.
:08:42. > :08:49.It is a dwarfing rootstock which controls the height of the tree.
:08:49. > :08:52.You've got the root from one one cherry tree and the rest from
:08:52. > :08:58.another and stuck it together. You can see it down there. This is what
:08:58. > :08:59.they one cherry tree and the rest from another and stuck it together.
:08:59. > :09:02.they one cherry tree and the rest You can see it down there. This is
:09:02. > :09:05.what they call the "union". Here is the rootstock, here is the tree. The
:09:05. > :09:08.bulbous by the in the middle is the join? Yes, it sort of grows like
:09:08. > :09:10.that, and it grows on. So the roots are governing how far the tree
:09:10. > :09:13.grows? Absolutely. Is it more productive, would you say? Very much
:09:14. > :09:18.more productive. What you're doing now is producing a tree that's
:09:18. > :09:22.relatively small, hasn't got an enormous amount of wood or leaf, and
:09:22. > :09:26.it can put its effort into producing fruit. Everybody that grows trees
:09:26. > :09:30.for commercial harvest will grow them with this type of rootstock. It
:09:30. > :09:36.has revolutionised the UK cherry business. In, modern trees are three
:09:36. > :09:39.times more productive than the older ones.
:09:39. > :09:41.Before we find out what it takes to get the cherries off the trees,
:09:41. > :09:45.Before we find out what it takes to let's look back at what it took to
:09:45. > :10:01.get here. The story of our cherries actually
:10:01. > :10:09.starts way back in winter. I enjoy this time of year. It is
:10:09. > :10:13.cold and crisp. You've got plenty of wildlife. The trees appear to be
:10:13. > :10:19.standing there idle, but, actually, within the tree, there is a lot
:10:19. > :10:24.happening. The January snow was great news for Andy because each
:10:24. > :10:28.cherry tree needs a precise of chilling through the winter months
:10:28. > :10:36.to produce blossom in spring. And then fruit in summer.
:10:36. > :10:40.In it doesn't receive the right amount of chilling, it can affect
:10:40. > :10:45.the quality and the yield, and in stream cases, it may not even fruit
:10:45. > :10:51.at all. But it is not just cherries. All our
:10:51. > :10:55.fruit crops need those crucial chill hours during the winter months if
:10:55. > :11:00.they're going to produce fruit. So what is actually going on inside
:11:00. > :11:09.the plants? Stefan Gates reveals more about this mysterious
:11:09. > :11:15.phenomenon. How do our fruit trees know when to
:11:15. > :11:18.start growing, when to flower, and when to drop their leaves? It is all
:11:18. > :11:23.due to the fact that plants really do feel the cold.
:11:24. > :11:29.When the trees lose their leaves in winter, they become dormant and that
:11:29. > :11:33.is because they are genetically pre-programmed to shut down.
:11:33. > :11:41.But what is it that causes the tree to wake up again? It is down to a
:11:41. > :11:45.mysterious process called "vernalisat Take Take this apple
:11:45. > :11:49.tree. It is only when the tree gets cold for a prolonged period of time
:11:49. > :11:53.that another set of genes is activated, and this begins the long
:11:53. > :12:00.process of preparing the plant for spring. It is a little bit like the
:12:00. > :12:04.plant's internal clock is being reactivated. Prolonged low
:12:04. > :12:08.temperatures in winter trigger the release of a hormone called
:12:08. > :12:13.florigen, and this is this that kick-starts the plant into flowering
:12:13. > :12:19.and eventually to produce fruit. To make an apple, the tree must
:12:19. > :12:23.endure around 700 hours of temperatures colder than seven
:12:23. > :12:32.degrees. Without that, it simply won't flower as well when the
:12:32. > :12:38.weather warms up. Andy's cherries need even more cold
:12:38. > :12:41.than apples: 1,200 hours, to be precise, and this winter, they
:12:41. > :12:46.certainly got that. But the cold weather dragged on and
:12:46. > :12:51.on, and spring came really late, so Andy began to worry that he had
:12:51. > :12:56.another problem on his hands: that, by summer, all his fruits would
:12:56. > :13:01.develop at the same time. And, as if that wasn't enough, in July, along
:13:01. > :13:06.came the longest heatwave of this century. Those prolonged warm
:13:06. > :13:10.temperatures accelerated the ripening, and now all the cherries
:13:10. > :13:17.are pretty much ready at the same time. Will they be able to pick all
:13:17. > :13:20.the cherries while they're still perfectly ripe? Gregg has gone to
:13:20. > :13:28.meet the pickers that Andy is trusting with his precious crop.
:13:28. > :13:32.I've been told to come here. Bev, available between 12 and two. I
:13:33. > :13:36.am a bit early. Bev Woodyatt is in charge of the
:13:36. > :13:41.seasonal workforce at Lower Hope. She used to be a picker herself.
:13:41. > :13:45.Traditionally, all our fruit crops were harvested by local people, but,
:13:45. > :13:47.like so many things in farming, times have changed, and now we
:13:47. > :13:52.employ thousands of foreign times have changed, and now we
:13:52. > :13:56.to do the job. I greet the students, I do their
:13:56. > :14:00.inductions, make sure they've got the right paperwork, do their wages
:14:00. > :14:05.and look after the campsite. I am like their mum but I don't cook and
:14:05. > :14:09.clean for them. Why are they all eastern European? We do advertise
:14:09. > :14:13.for British people but they don't seem to be really interested. We
:14:13. > :14:18.have had a couple, one lasted an hour, one lasted a day. It is hard
:14:18. > :14:22.work. At the moment, it's a shame, but they just don't seem to want to
:14:22. > :14:24.do it. On your office door, one lasted a day. It is hard work. At
:14:24. > :14:27.the moment, it's a shame, but they lasted a day. It is hard work. At
:14:27. > :14:30.just don't seem to want to do it. On your office door, it says "meeting
:14:30. > :14:32.by appointment only". Why is that? Constant, knock, knock, knock on the
:14:32. > :14:36.door, things like, "My lightbulb has gone. What time is it going to stop
:14:36. > :14:42.raining?" At the height of harvest, Bev has 250 pickers, packers and
:14:42. > :14:48.pruners all all need housing in the farm's own campsite. This is one of
:14:48. > :14:56.the caravans. Sizeable. How many people sleep in here? This has six
:14:56. > :15:03.in. This is Ivelina. We wanted to see how you all live and stuff. Come
:15:03. > :15:07.in. Hello. Great big television. Have you got satellite? Yes, we have
:15:07. > :15:12.English satellite, Bulgarian TV. We can watch everything. This is quite
:15:12. > :15:23.cosy. I think I wouldn't mind a caravan.
:15:23. > :15:28.You wouldn't want to share a room with someone having nightmares. Some
:15:28. > :15:30.workers stay for ten months a year, so there is a strong
:15:30. > :15:32.workers stay for ten months a year, community around the campsite, they
:15:32. > :15:37.cook, do their washing together. It's got a real holiday camp feel,
:15:37. > :15:42.except everyone is here for one main reason: to earn money. They get paid
:15:42. > :15:47.by the weight of the cherries they pick. Why do you publish everyone's
:15:47. > :15:54.earnings? They like to know every day how much they've earned. This
:15:54. > :15:58.picker here, Mateusz Klus, he is earning about £100 a day. In fact,
:15:58. > :16:02.there are four or five people there earning near on £100 a day? Yes. If
:16:03. > :16:09.you're willing to work, you can earn good money. What is the tapal day of
:16:09. > :16:13.your cherry worker? Ve could be 5 o'clock in the morning, it could be
:16:13. > :16:17.six, it just depends, and they normally work about eight hours a
:16:17. > :16:22.day. When they finish at night, it is one big mad dash to get in the
:16:22. > :16:24.showers, usually it is not long before they're in bed because
:16:24. > :16:29.obviously they've got to start and get up again four or 5 o'clock in
:16:29. > :16:33.the morning ready for the next day. Much socialising here in the
:16:33. > :16:36.evening? Yes, they usually get together and have a drink. Mostly,
:16:36. > :16:41.there is a birthday every day with this amount of people, if not two,
:16:41. > :16:46.and then we usually do barbecues for them. Is there much interpicking
:16:46. > :16:51.romance? We have had marriages, we have had babies. Really?Yes. That's
:16:51. > :16:57.fantastic. It is 20 years since Bev was a
:16:57. > :17:03.picker herself. It is a lifestyle she grew up with. How was it being a
:17:03. > :17:11.picker? It is hard work, but it was fun. This is m. No way. Us kids used
:17:11. > :17:16.to sit and pick hops into an umbrella. Here's when it was all
:17:16. > :17:20.done by hand. Not a lot has changed, really? Lots of people on the land
:17:20. > :17:30.then all bringing in the harvest. Yes. But of course there are plenty
:17:30. > :17:34.of other things that have changed. Right now, everyone is racing to
:17:34. > :17:39.bring this this incredible crop, but we wouldn't have all these cherries
:17:40. > :17:44.without one thing: polytunnels. Polytunnels were introduced to
:17:44. > :17:46.British farming 20 years ago, and they've completely revolutionised
:17:46. > :17:51.our summer fruit industry by increasing the reliability of the
:17:52. > :17:56.harvest. Andy led the way in using them to cover whole cherry orchards.
:17:56. > :18:03.They Lou him to control the growing environment to suit the precise
:18:03. > :18:06.needs of the trees. The scale of his man-made cherry heaven is
:18:06. > :18:11.staggering. The tunnels go up in spring when Andy's team cover the
:18:11. > :18:14.whole orchard with a giant plastic roof.
:18:14. > :18:20.It is important the trees are protected from late frost. In
:18:20. > :18:25.summer, the polytunnels keep the ripe cherries safe from storms that
:18:25. > :18:34.would split them and devastate the harvest. I have to say, I will
:18:34. > :18:35.confess to you, I am not a big fan of polytunnels, but it's lovely in
:18:35. > :18:39.here. It's a lovely climate, a of polytunnels, but it's lovely in
:18:39. > :18:44.beautiful climate. It allows us to amend nature, really. We can make it
:18:44. > :18:49.warmer in the spring, cooler in the summer. How do you ventilate them,
:18:49. > :18:55.then? We use these poles.This is not going to be press a button? Not
:18:55. > :18:59.quite. How many miles?About 50 kilometres which is 30 miles of
:19:00. > :19:03.tunnels, so it is a lot of tunnels. 30 miles of tunnels. So every time
:19:03. > :19:09.you decide it's a bit hot today, you've got to do 30 miles? Yes.
:19:09. > :19:16.Also, how much does that cost? It costs us about £1,000 to push all
:19:16. > :19:25.the tunnels up and pull them down again. Shallwe? we? , all you do is
:19:25. > :19:32.- I won't do this 3 miles.I will show you. You simply put the pole
:19:32. > :19:36.here just on the bottom and pub it up underneath. The ropes tighten and
:19:36. > :19:42.hold it. You come alongside the rope, tuck it into here. By the time
:19:42. > :19:45.you've done this for 30 miles, ght, midnight, isn't it? A little bit
:19:45. > :19:50.further, please. Quite particular. That is you, though. You're so
:19:50. > :19:54.particular. Very particular. We simply go along. Try the ne one. .
:19:55. > :20:00.It is a good workout. In the winter, then, are they protecting them? We
:20:00. > :20:05.actually take them off in the winter. What you've done wrong there
:20:05. > :20:08.is you need to get the bottom underneath and they won't slide
:20:08. > :20:15.down. Are you saying my work on the farm is sloppy? You need a bit of
:20:15. > :20:21.training! How much does this whole rig cost? All these polytunnels and
:20:21. > :20:23.everything? How much is that in rig cost? All these polytunnels and
:20:23. > :20:26.terms of inselection? We spent about £2 fingerprint 25 million on
:20:26. > :20:29.tunnels. It's a huge investment. Absolutely. For you it's the
:20:29. > :20:30.difference of growing cherries in the UK. Without them, we wouldn't
:20:30. > :20:38.difference of growing cherries in growing cherries in the UK. That's
:20:38. > :20:45.the same for lots of fruit as well, particularly one of our favourites,
:20:45. > :20:50.the strawberry as Gregg has been finding out.
:20:50. > :20:52.The biggest in the polytunnel revolution is the strawberry. This
:20:52. > :20:53.The biggest in the polytunnel sweet berry has taken over from the
:20:53. > :21:03.cherry as our favourite summer fruit. It now dwarfs dwarfs cherry
:21:03. > :21:08.sales on a massive five to one and makes up over 80 per cent of all the
:21:08. > :21:11.soft fruit we eat. The original wild strawberries still grow in our
:21:11. > :21:17.woods. They are delicately small and are shade-loving berries. The larger
:21:17. > :21:21.modern strawberry was bred in France in the 18th century and is much more
:21:21. > :21:25.of a sun worshipper. It is also a lot easier to grow than the needy
:21:25. > :21:32.cherry which explains why the strawberry industry has last eight
:21:32. > :21:37.the last eight years. It seems there's no stopping this Goliath of
:21:37. > :21:39.the summer fruit world. Now there are strawberriesing grown all over
:21:39. > :21:49.the UK. And not always in are strawberriesing grown all over
:21:49. > :21:54.that I would expect. Here I am in Stonehaven, 500 miles
:21:54. > :21:59.north of London. It is a beautiful little place. When
:21:59. > :22:00.I think about food round here, I think about brilliant Scottish sea
:22:00. > :22:10.food, lobsters or herring - most think about brilliant Scottish sea
:22:10. > :22:15.certainly not strawberries. Look at these. Mmm. They are seriously good.
:22:15. > :22:18.They come from just down the road here.
:22:18. > :22:21.I always think of strawberries basking in the sunny warmth of
:22:21. > :22:25.southern basking in the sunny warmth of
:22:25. > :22:28.But, in fact, the colder Scottish lowlands are surprisingly
:22:28. > :22:32.productive. Ross Mitchell grows over 200 acres
:22:33. > :22:36.of soft fruit on his Aberdeenshire farm.
:22:36. > :22:39.He believes there are some real advantages to growing this far
:22:39. > :22:44.north. But, like Andy, he relies on
:22:44. > :22:50.polytunnels to keep out the worst of the Scottish weather. He is also
:22:50. > :22:52.adopting some really high-tech growing techniques that mean his
:22:52. > :22:55.strawberries lead a remarkably growing techniques that mean his
:22:55. > :23:01.pampered lifestyle. Not what I expected at all, mate.
:23:01. > :23:08.Gregg, this is strawberry growing in the modern era. This is a hydroponic
:23:08. > :23:13.system we're growing in so there is no natural soil involved. We're
:23:14. > :23:18.taking in coir, which is ground-up coconut shells. The plants sit in
:23:18. > :23:21.the coir, an efficient growing medium which encourages better root
:23:21. > :23:26.growth and increases fruit production. They receive their food
:23:26. > :23:28.through a network of pipes. What exactly is going through these
:23:28. > :23:31.through a network of pipes. pipes? Water, I should imagine?
:23:31. > :23:39.Water and all the nutrients plants need. They need nitrogen, calcium,
:23:39. > :23:44.potassium, phosphorous. We are using a computer to measure the humidity
:23:44. > :23:48.potassium, phosphorous. We are using and sunlight, and when they need
:23:48. > :23:53.nutrient, they get it. They normally would have got them from the soil?
:23:53. > :23:56.Yes, or a granular fertiliser that would be applied once or twice a
:23:56. > :24:00.year. We're giving fertiliser every time continually. You're not giving
:24:00. > :24:04.the strawberry anything it wouldn' had fifty 50 years ago? No, it's not
:24:04. > :24:09.get anything that is not a natural resource. Just a different way?Yes.
:24:09. > :24:11.You've got it on a drip? Yes. We try to take the variables out of it to
:24:11. > :24:13.You've got it on a drip? Yes. We try grow a more consistent even crop.
:24:13. > :24:18.You've got it on a drip? Yes. We try You get more yield and better fruit
:24:18. > :24:22.from this system? We do, yes.How confident hat you that these are
:24:22. > :24:28.going to taste better than my uncle Ted's ones in Kent? Very confident.
:24:28. > :24:32.The proof of the pudding is is in the eating. Oh, mate. That's a very
:24:32. > :24:37.good strawberry. Seriously sweet. Maybe too much potassium in that
:24:37. > :24:41.one! Is that right!Maybe. Nitrogen balance is Maybe too much potassium
:24:41. > :24:42.in that one! Is that right!Maybe. Nitrogen balance is absolutely
:24:43. > :24:45.in that one! Is that right!Maybe. right. ! It is all very futuristic,
:24:45. > :24:50.but things weren't always that way. Ross is part of a long tradition of
:24:50. > :24:56.soft fruit production on the east coast of Scotland. Since the 1890s,
:24:56. > :25:01.thousands of acres of land has been dedicated to growing soft fruit,
:25:01. > :25:03.much of which was sent under steam to London markets. The
:25:03. > :25:09.much of which was sent under steam tough without polytunnels, but
:25:09. > :25:15.farmers were making the most of one of Scotland's natural advantages:
:25:15. > :25:28.Daylight. And lots of it. In midsummer, this
:25:28. > :25:33.area gets well over an hour more day light than Kent.
:25:33. > :25:41.Which has a huge effect on the short life of the strawberry.
:25:41. > :25:43.Ross, that's great. I am taking it they are the different stage of
:25:43. > :25:48.development of a strawberry? So, yes, a school lesson here: we start
:25:48. > :25:52.off with an open flower which then needs to be pollenated. So the
:25:52. > :25:55.centre of the flower then develops to become the strawberry. You can
:25:55. > :26:00.see the different growth stages here. So, between here and here,
:26:00. > :26:04.probably takes about four weeks. And here and here takes about two weeks.
:26:04. > :26:07.But this is the crucial stage where all the sweetness, all the flavour
:26:07. > :26:10.is put into the strawberry, so this is the very point where Scotland's
:26:10. > :26:16.climate makes a difference to the is the very point where Scotland's
:26:16. > :26:21.fruit flavour. The extra daylight hours means Ross's strawberries have
:26:21. > :26:26.longer to build up sugars. Because it is generally cooler up here, they
:26:26. > :26:37.ripen more slowly, giving even more time for the strawberries to develop
:26:37. > :26:42.their deliciously sweet flavour. Hey, those berries were absolutely
:26:42. > :26:43.delicious, but these are equally as delicious, and these are all Andy's
:26:43. > :26:46.cherries, and what I wanted to show delicious, and these are all Andy's
:26:46. > :26:51.you is even though we think cherries are all the same, look at all of the
:26:51. > :26:53.different varieties. Yes, you can clearly see when they are put
:26:53. > :26:57.together they are all very different, are not they? This one
:26:57. > :27:04.here is my favourite one, called a Sweetheart isn't that lovely? That
:27:04. > :27:10.looks very cherry-ish. Do they taste differently? You taste, taste the
:27:10. > :27:14.Sweetheart ones. Taste another one. I can guarantee you that he will be
:27:14. > :27:18.different. These Sweethearts I think almost taste like a glass of red
:27:18. > :27:22.wine. They are very sweet.This one is sweet, maybe deeper. Try one of
:27:22. > :27:26.these. These having these stones in it have
:27:26. > :27:29.caused a problem in recent years. I am pleased to hear that sales are on
:27:29. > :27:32.the increase. Because of the stones, because they are difficult to eat,
:27:32. > :27:35.people have been neglecting them. We've been getting lazy. If I leave
:27:35. > :27:36.people have been neglecting them. a bowl of cherries out on the table,
:27:36. > :27:40.people have been neglecting them. they're gone in half an hour in our
:27:40. > :27:45.house. I don't think you agree with me they taste like wine? I don't,
:27:45. > :27:49.really. That's because you drink rubbish wine, obviously! What do
:27:49. > :27:57.they taste like? They just taste sweet. That I think tastes more like
:27:57. > :28:03.a blackcurrant. I am getting that, and also with the colour as well.
:28:03. > :28:10.This is the sweetest of all. Pick the last one up for me there. All I
:28:10. > :28:14.- That is much sweeter.I don't know what that one is called. That was
:28:14. > :28:20.the point I am trying to make: they are all very different. That's less
:28:20. > :28:23.sweet, isn't it? That is the least sweet of all. What I like about
:28:23. > :28:27.British home-grown cherries is they're likely to be riper because
:28:27. > :28:30.they don't have to travel so far. If you're picking abroad and you're
:28:30. > :28:35.air-freighting or put they think on a ship, you're not going to pick
:28:35. > :28:40.them anywhere near ripe. Let's stay here and scoff some more! In the
:28:40. > :28:46.spring, all over the UK, orchards are blossoming and they are
:28:46. > :28:53.attracting insect pollinators. That short flowering season is a treat
:28:53. > :28:57.for our fruit growers. I always look forward to blossom.
:28:57. > :29:03.The trees always look at their best this time of year. Andy's not alone.
:29:03. > :29:09.In spring, fruit farmers all over the UK enjoy one of nature's finest
:29:09. > :29:13.shows. This is lovely to see the seasons
:29:13. > :29:19.moving on in the growth stages. Once we see the flower in our fruit
:29:19. > :29:24.crops, at least we have a chance of getting a good crop. This is both
:29:24. > :29:29.exciting and a nervous time of year. What happens now and for the next
:29:29. > :29:34.few weeks will determine what level of crop we have and ultimately what
:29:34. > :29:38.harvest. We want to be absolutely sure the bees have done their job.
:29:38. > :29:44.We have such a short window - maybe two weeks - to get the trees
:29:44. > :29:51.pollinated. If you don't get pollination, you get no fruit.
:29:51. > :29:55.Praying for good weather. Forever looking at the weather forecast and
:29:55. > :30:01.hoping things are going to go well for us.
:30:01. > :30:05.If we can just see the sun shining, the insects flying, and all the
:30:05. > :30:16.If we can just see the sun shining, blossom pollenated, then, great. It
:30:16. > :30:21.is so stunning, that it is really easy to get carried away with the
:30:21. > :30:25.romance of blossom, but of course every single flower is there to
:30:25. > :30:30.perform a function: they need to be pollenated by insects if there is
:30:30. > :30:36.going to be any fruit crop at all. But what exactly is pollination?
:30:36. > :30:44.Stefan Gates has been exploring this fascinating example of co-operation
:30:44. > :30:55.in nature. The key to a plant's success is sex.
:30:55. > :30:59.And that is where pollen comes. In. Each microscopic grain carries the
:30:59. > :31:05.male reproductive cells of a plant. For a plant to reproduce, its pollen
:31:05. > :31:09.must reach the female plants of another plant. Plants can't travel
:31:09. > :31:14.so finding a mate can be tricky. That's why lots of plants rely on
:31:15. > :31:19.animals to act as go-betweens. To attract animal pollinators, plants
:31:19. > :31:21.entice them with dazzling displays of flowers, rich with nectar and
:31:21. > :31:25.entice them with dazzling displays scent. Insects, and in other
:31:25. > :31:32.countries even birds and mammals, feed on the nectar, and, in return,
:31:32. > :31:39.they provide an invaluable service. Flowers contain both male and female
:31:39. > :31:44.parts, and if you look at this beautiful lily, these are the
:31:44. > :31:50.anthers, and they are utterly drenched in pollen. They're the male
:31:50. > :31:53.part of the flower, and their prominent position is no
:31:53. > :31:58.coincidence. They stick out so that any visiting creatures are sure to
:31:58. > :32:01.get a thorough coating of pollen, pollen that they will then carry to
:32:01. > :32:06.the next plant. Hopefully, it will drop some of that pollen on to this
:32:06. > :32:10.stigma, which is the female part, and when the pollen drops there, it
:32:10. > :32:16.travels down all the way down to the bottom to the ovaries.
:32:16. > :32:22.Once it reaches an ovary, the pollen fertilisers an egg. The flower can
:32:22. > :32:28.now develop seeds, and, in some plants, the tasty fruit around them.
:32:28. > :32:35.With that, the plant has successfully reproduced.
:32:35. > :32:39.Back at the farm, Andy's team of workers are still busy picking his
:32:39. > :32:43.bumper crop much cherries. They're three-quarters of the way through
:32:43. > :32:48.the harvest now. But these cherries are only here because of a very
:32:48. > :32:52.different workforce. Commercial fruit farmers like Andy
:32:52. > :32:55.rely on an army of insects they buy in to pollenate their crops. Back
:32:55. > :33:03.rely on an army of insects they buy spring, I went to help Andy on one
:33:03. > :33:09.of the most important days of his year. Bee day.
:33:09. > :33:14.It is 29 April at Lower Hope, and the blossom is due to emerge any
:33:14. > :33:19.day. Andy has got millions of bees, of
:33:19. > :33:27.several different species, all being delivered to the farm ready for the
:33:27. > :33:32.massive pollination task. First, the honey bees. For
:33:33. > :33:36.centuries, we've relied on them to pollenate our fruit crops, and they
:33:36. > :33:39.are still vital today. With advances in fruit production, they're no
:33:39. > :33:43.longer enough. Andy has got such a high density of
:33:43. > :33:50.trees, and the commercial value of his harvest is so great, so he needs
:33:50. > :33:55.literally millions of bees. He can't only rely on the honey bees and the
:33:55. > :33:59.local wild bees. He actually has to import more from abroad like these
:33:59. > :34:03.bumble bees. Why can't you just rely on the wild
:34:03. > :34:08.bees? There just are not enough of them. The wild bees living all over.
:34:08. > :34:13.Who is to say they're not going to be in the hedgerow or down the road
:34:13. > :34:16.somewhere on somebody else's crop. It needs millions of bees to
:34:16. > :34:26.pollenate this farm. It is vital It needs millions of bees to
:34:26. > :34:33.they're here and not elsewhere. Andy buys his bumble bees from a
:34:33. > :34:37.factory in Slovakia that breeds them specifically to pollenate fruit
:34:37. > :34:51.crops on farms right across Europe. Here, the Queen bees are selected,
:34:51. > :34:58.mated, and then they lay their eggs. When the colony is big enough, the
:34:58. > :35:09.bumble bees are boxed up, and shipped to farms like Lower Hope.
:35:10. > :35:15.This practice is fully licensed by Natural England but still has its
:35:15. > :35:21.critics. Do you have any conservation worries about importing
:35:21. > :35:25.bees from abroad? No, no, they're a British sub speakers anyway, native
:35:25. > :35:29.to this country. So they're not going to battle with our own
:35:29. > :35:35.species? Not at all.What about disease? Again, the environment they
:35:35. > :35:39.are produced in is very sterile, so I've personally got no concerns
:35:39. > :35:43.about pests or disease. We need these bees to have a
:35:43. > :35:49.successful harvest. Without these guys, we would have no cherries.
:35:49. > :35:54.With the stakes so high, this year, Andy is also trialling a third
:35:54. > :35:58.species of bee. He hopes it could have a significant impact on his
:35:58. > :36:04.cherry harvest and help boost our native bepopulation too.
:36:04. > :36:10.These are Mason bees, so-called because they build walls of mud in
:36:10. > :36:13.their nest lick a stone Mason does. These are actually quite solitary
:36:13. > :36:19.bees, but although you don't see them in big numbers, Andy has a
:36:19. > :36:24.suspicion that they might be extremely efficient pollinators.
:36:24. > :36:30.Mason bee expert Chris Whittall is releasing thousands of these native
:36:30. > :36:36.bees into the orchard today. When it comes pollination, he believes the
:36:36. > :36:42.nayson berules -- Mason bee rules. Why are these bees better? They have
:36:42. > :36:46.a short life cycle, only perhaps six weeks, and that that time they've
:36:46. > :36:50.got to collect the pollen to put in their nest tubes, to reproduce
:36:50. > :36:55.themselves for next year. It is the natural life cycle that makes them
:36:55. > :37:01.so ideal. As soon as these bees hatch, they mate. Then the males die
:37:01. > :37:05.and the females go on an intense food-gathering mission, visiting
:37:05. > :37:09.lots of flowers in a very short space of time. They have to collect
:37:09. > :37:13.enough pollen and nectar to feed their developing young before they
:37:13. > :37:17.die themselves. That is why Chris thinks they are
:37:17. > :37:20.the most effective pollinators. But what will be the proof? How will we
:37:20. > :37:26.know? We will see a lot more cherries, much better quality, and
:37:26. > :37:30.they will taste beautiful. Just two days after we put the bees
:37:30. > :37:49.out, the orchard came alive. Andy's bees were hard at work
:37:49. > :37:54.pollenating the blossom that would pollenating the blossom that would
:37:54. > :38:15.eventually turn into cherries. What is particularly lovely for me
:38:15. > :38:20.is seeing the difference between just blossom on trees, all these
:38:20. > :38:24.festoons of fruit and leaves. It looks so, so different? Yes, it
:38:24. > :38:29.does, and it is a fantastic crop, as you can see. It is an enormous crop
:38:30. > :38:33.of cherries. The bees all did their job but we were particularly
:38:33. > :38:36.interested in the Mason bees. How did they perform? They did a
:38:36. > :38:39.fantastic job. We are certainly going to extend the trial. So next
:38:39. > :38:44.year, they continue their work? Very much so. We will be putting a lot
:38:44. > :38:48.more bees in and over a wider area. It is very well having this bumper
:38:48. > :38:55.crop but then you do need an army of people to harvest them. We do.
:38:55. > :39:01.Handley, Gregg, even as we is learning how to do that with Bev.
:39:01. > :39:06.All these little bits at the top, this is all next year's fruit, so
:39:06. > :39:15.literally if somebody rips that off, that's next year's crop gone. How do
:39:15. > :39:18.we pull without pulling the - You get the cherry, hold it by the
:39:19. > :39:22.stalk, and you pluck them off like that. You must never touch the fruit
:39:22. > :39:26.because the fruit will bruise with your fingers. Listen, I am going to
:39:26. > :39:34.eat a few of these as I go round. You're not going to eat them. You
:39:34. > :39:38.mean? If you're seen eating on the field, you will be sent off the
:39:38. > :39:42.field and you will not pick again. I am a thirsty man in a brewery here.
:39:42. > :39:51.All right! Rules are rules! Do you want come out? Yes. Make sure you
:39:51. > :39:59.place them into your punnet. Don't drop them. Don't pick the ones off
:39:59. > :40:06.the floor because that's dirty now. I think you're getting up to speed.
:40:06. > :40:14.We need to put you in a team now. I tell you what, this is a hive of
:40:14. > :40:19.activity. Hi. ,George. Nice to meet you. I am your new star picker.
:40:19. > :40:25.Where do I start? This is your first tree, second tree. Please can you
:40:25. > :40:30.stop your trolley here. My trolley is going to be going up and down
:40:30. > :40:34.here so fast. You don't need to move your trolley. You stop where your
:40:34. > :40:38.trees and that is it. This is your first. I've - oh. Please, you need
:40:38. > :40:47.to start from the top of the branch. first. I've - oh. Please, you need
:40:47. > :40:51.Yes, of course, I knew that! What do you do when the cherries are leaning
:40:51. > :40:53.over the other side? You can just jump from the other side. It will be
:40:53. > :40:59.easier for you to come here jump from the other side. It will be
:40:59. > :41:08.here to pick them just like that. Just like that. These seem harder
:41:08. > :41:13.than where I was before. What about this one? That is good?No, it's
:41:14. > :41:22.not. Have a look on the side. You see? It has small marks on it. No,
:41:22. > :41:27.no. No! I am nowhere near as fast as
:41:27. > :41:31.Uruguays, and it seems that everybody really has their part in a
:41:31. > :41:40.team. In your experience, what makes a very good team? The guys need to
:41:40. > :41:45.be motivated to earn money and to helping each other. We are finish it
:41:45. > :41:49.as fast as we can. After the pickers, there should not be any
:41:49. > :41:54.fruit on the tree. It is hard work, and there is no way that you could
:41:54. > :41:58.do this by machine. Philippa, who is always looking for the easy way out,
:41:59. > :42:09.she's found a fruit that you can pick with a machine. Trust her.
:42:09. > :42:13.Rob Saunders is the man in charge of buying 90 per cent of the UK's
:42:14. > :42:24.blackcurrants. He's the chief taster for Ribena.
:42:24. > :42:31.Only when Rob is happy the currants are ripe can the machines roll into
:42:31. > :42:44.action on farmer Anthony Snell's field.
:42:44. > :42:55.What is the verdict? They're black, there's the rig balance ofmuch
:42:56. > :42:59.sweetness and acidity. They're ready.
:42:59. > :43:05.The race is on for grower Anthony Snell and his team to harvest these
:43:05. > :43:10.blackcurrants and at the time them to the press within -- and get them
:43:10. > :43:15.to the press within 24 hours, otherwise they start to ferment.
:43:15. > :43:19.Vibrating fingers at the front of the machine shake the blackcurrants
:43:19. > :43:24.off without damaging the bushes. The fruit is caught by a conveyer that
:43:24. > :43:31.takes it to the back of the harvester where it is sorted and
:43:31. > :43:36.ready to be pressed into juice. How can you harvest fruit with a
:43:36. > :43:44.machine because ordinarily it is so delicate that you need pickers? It
:43:44. > :43:50.is a much more robust berry than strawberries and it is going for
:43:50. > :43:55.juice, so it is ideal to be mechanically harvested. How much
:43:55. > :44:06.does this machine cost? It is 100,000, but it's replacing 100
:44:06. > :44:07.people. British growers grow o hundred thousand tonnes of
:44:07. > :44:10.blackcurrants every year. Growing them in this climate isn't so easy.
:44:10. > :44:14.blackcurrants every year. Growing Something isn't quite right in the
:44:14. > :44:22.world of blackcurrants. At the pressing plant, harvest 2013 is more
:44:22. > :44:28.frantic than ever. What normally takes six weeks is
:44:28. > :44:32.being compressed into just five weeks.
:44:32. > :44:36.The big freeze last winter meant the blackcurrants ripened all at the
:44:36. > :44:42.same time, just like Andy's cherries. Now, the juice pressers
:44:42. > :44:46.are having to work overtime. But long-term, the business faces a
:44:46. > :44:56.more serious problem. Not boom but bust.
:44:57. > :45:00.2013 has bucked the trend for warmer winters. In previous mild winters,
:45:00. > :45:06.bushes didn't get the chill hours needed to make enough fruit, so
:45:06. > :45:12.recent harvests were poor. Ribena have been working with fruit
:45:12. > :45:16.scientist Dr Rex Brennan who might just have bred the answer on a
:45:16. > :45:24.nearby trial plot: a new variety with a snappy name.
:45:24. > :45:29.?CAPNEXT this seis 95212. It looks like every other blackcurrant bush
:45:29. > :45:33.I've seen today but I am sure for you it's not. Of this it's not, but
:45:33. > :45:36.it is a variety we hope will be released commercially and one of the
:45:36. > :45:39.attributes it has is that it needs significantly less winter chilling
:45:39. > :45:45.than some of the previous varieties. The big thing of course is the taste
:45:45. > :45:48.of it. That consistency is important to us because people recognise the
:45:48. > :45:55.flavour of the drink, and it can't change over time. For 95212 to
:45:55. > :46:00.become part of Ribena's future harvest it, has to make it through
:46:00. > :46:03.an expert taste panel. So I've help Rob harvest a sample ready for
:46:03. > :46:15.testing by the professionals. Time to see if it makes the grade.
:46:15. > :46:19.Try not to snort it! Really, the cranberry notes are pronounced. A
:46:19. > :46:26.hint of boiled sweets. We're looking for that leafy almost catty - it is
:46:26. > :46:31.called a ribese - When have you tasted a cat! The thing is no-one
:46:31. > :46:37.has mentioned blackcurrants. I don't know what to make of that! Each
:46:37. > :46:42.criterion is marked from one to five and averaged into a single score.
:46:42. > :46:49.That is a magnifice 4.4. Final result. That is fantastic. What does
:46:49. > :46:53.this mean for the future of 95212? It has held up really well. We know
:46:53. > :46:57.it's well adapted to warm winters, and it tastes great. I think we're
:46:57. > :47:01.very likely to release it as a and it tastes great. I think we're
:47:01. > :47:03.variety. Does that mean growers like Anthony will be growing it
:47:03. > :47:06.commercially in the future? This will be part of the future of
:47:06. > :47:15.blackcurrants in the UK. I drink to that. Cheers. Best of health.
:47:15. > :47:21.Cheers. It is actually really nice and quiet
:47:21. > :47:25.and peaceful, just the rustle of leaves. Everybody is busy.I've
:47:25. > :47:28.never known it been quiet with Gregg around. How are you doing?
:47:28. > :47:32.Concentrating. Those guys have picked way more than you have. I've
:47:32. > :47:37.just emptied two trays. Concentrating. That is the key to
:47:37. > :47:40.keeping him quiet. I will remember that! Andy Andy, what is the most
:47:40. > :47:44.difficult part of this whole process for you because obviously you're not
:47:44. > :47:50.doing the picking, are you? No, just deciding when they're ripe. Who
:47:50. > :47:55.decides? Every variety has its ideal colour. This variety, Sweetheart, is
:47:55. > :48:04.best when it is this sort of colour, like a dark red. Like that. You see,
:48:04. > :48:09.it's got lovely even dark red. Yes. Would you like to try on? You know
:48:09. > :48:18.the answer to that. It's lovelying able to eat the fruit down here!
:48:18. > :48:21.That tastes beautiful to me. That's exactly how it should be. It's
:48:21. > :48:25.perfect. Do you get the supermarkets coming in and wanting to taste them
:48:25. > :48:30.before you pick? We do get them visiting, but we tell them when they
:48:30. > :48:34.are ready at the end of the day. There are only a couple of people on
:48:34. > :48:37.the farm that can make that decision because it's a vital decision. So
:48:37. > :48:41.presumably, if you got that wrong, and a whole row of cherries was
:48:41. > :48:45.picked before it was ripe, it would be a bit of a disaster. Yes. You
:48:45. > :48:47.see, there is a variation in colour within this tree, and it
:48:47. > :48:51.see, there is a variation in colour like that, but this fruit, a little
:48:51. > :48:57.bit red, if you would like to try that, you will notice the
:48:57. > :49:00.difference. So - no flavour.No, nowhere near. That is
:49:00. > :49:04.difference. So - no flavour.No, The difference is really, really
:49:04. > :49:08.clear. So the art is to decide when the overall tree is fit to pick
:49:08. > :49:12.because you're always going to get a few like this. There is a picking
:49:12. > :49:24.window of maybe three or four days. So what is going on? What is
:49:24. > :49:28.ripening and why is it so important to fruit? Plants create fruits for
:49:28. > :49:34.one very simple reason: to spread their seed as far and as wide as
:49:34. > :49:40.possible. The tasty fruit tempts animals to eat it.
:49:40. > :49:45.The seeds inside the fruit pass through the animal's gut and are
:49:45. > :49:50.deposited far away from the parent plant, but creating that fruit
:49:50. > :49:55.requires a huge investment of energy for a plant. That apple contained
:49:55. > :49:58.over a tablespoon of sugar which the plant had had to painstakingly
:49:58. > :50:02.create using photosynthesis. plant had had to painstakingly
:50:02. > :50:07.plants won't give up their fruits until the seeds inside them are
:50:07. > :50:12.ready. That is why unripe fruit is so unappealing.
:50:12. > :50:16.These unripe apples are dry and sour they are packed with carbohydrates
:50:16. > :50:21.but they haven't been broken down into the sweet sugars that we can
:50:21. > :50:26.taste. Until they ripen, most fruits are green so they're well
:50:26. > :50:34.camouflaged within the plant. Once the seeds are mature, the plant
:50:34. > :50:37.produces a syrupy smelling gas called ethylene causing the sweet to
:50:37. > :50:41.become sweeter, darker, and much more appetising. For the plant, this
:50:41. > :50:48.is the potential for a future generation, but for us, it is a food
:50:48. > :50:57.packed full of flavour and essential vitamins.
:50:57. > :51:04.Keep picking, boys! Quick, quick, quick, more cherries. I tell you
:51:04. > :51:12.what, these guys work fast. As soon as I filled up these trays, they are
:51:12. > :51:17.loaded up and they are off for processing. Now, I've been working
:51:17. > :51:19.fruit and veg for over 20 years, and I am telling you, what they're doing
:51:19. > :51:22.is picking these ripe and trying to I am telling you, what they're doing
:51:22. > :51:25.get them to the supermarkets within two days. That is very impressive.
:51:25. > :51:37.Fruit of this quality in that quantity, that is great.
:51:37. > :51:49.Once the fruit leaves the orchards, it comes here to the pack house.
:51:49. > :51:53.Every day, the team pack 25,000 punnets.
:51:53. > :51:58.The cherries are chilled to slow the age willing process, and reduce the
:51:58. > :52:03.risk of decay. Then machines wash and grade the
:52:03. > :52:09.cherries, sorting them into their different sizes before they are put
:52:09. > :52:12.into punnets. But every punnet must weigh the
:52:12. > :52:19.same. The accuracy is really quite
:52:19. > :52:25.impressive. Green light, go ahead. Now I've got to turn all the
:52:25. > :52:30.cherries face down so the heat-sealed lids don't get punctured
:52:30. > :52:34.by the stalks. When I buy these, I don't think about the person who has
:52:34. > :52:38.lovingly packed them. Once they are chilled and packed,
:52:38. > :52:45.the cherries have a shelf life of about five days.
:52:45. > :52:50.Here they are. Clearly, the best ones were mine! Ready mine! Ready
:52:50. > :52:54.for them to go to the supermarket for us to buy them. Every
:52:54. > :52:58.fruit-laden truck leaving the farm advances Andy's dream: to help
:52:58. > :53:03.revive UK cherry-growing, but how was this year for him? The weather
:53:03. > :53:08.was kind through the winter until it went on so long it felt like spring
:53:09. > :53:13.would never come. But Andy got the polytunnels up in
:53:13. > :53:21.time to protect his army of pollenating bees, and they certainly
:53:21. > :53:25.did their job. July's heatwave could have threatened the harvest, but by
:53:25. > :53:27.venting his tunnels, Andy was able to make the most of the sun and use
:53:27. > :53:33.it to ripen his bumper crop to make the most of the sun and use
:53:33. > :53:36.deliciously sweet cherries. Now harvest 2013 is coming to an end.
:53:36. > :53:38.deliciously sweet cherries. Now Andy and his team have picked 300
:53:38. > :53:41.deliciously sweet cherries. Now tonnes of cherries, and there are
:53:41. > :53:47.only a few small pockets of the orchard left to harvest.
:53:47. > :53:50.It is really hard work in the pack house, and actually quite cold as
:53:50. > :53:56.well. But it is very important that we keep the fruit as cold as
:53:57. > :54:03.possible to extend its life. How about the picker here? He He wasn't
:54:03. > :54:08.bad. He will get there slowly. You are tough! I know I am tough.The
:54:08. > :54:12.toughest thing is noting allowed to eat them as you're picking. That is
:54:12. > :54:15.torture. This is serious quality fruit. What sort of harvest have you
:54:15. > :54:20.had? It's been a good harvest this year as opposed to last year with
:54:20. > :54:25.all the rain. We had much better weather all through the season, we
:54:25. > :54:28.had good yields, good quality, and we've managed to make a bit of
:54:28. > :54:33.profit. What we need the money for is to reinvest. We like to keep
:54:33. > :54:36.looking forward, looking for better techniques, better varieties, and
:54:36. > :54:39.more cherries. I think that's lovely. That actually what you want
:54:39. > :54:42.to be is the best you can possibly be. That's the philosophy of the
:54:42. > :54:47.guys that work here, myself, and all the other guys. We try to do the
:54:47. > :54:51.best job we can and be the best out there. The sun is going down now,
:54:51. > :54:57.the end of the day, and the growing year for you? It is.Do you feel
:54:57. > :55:02.satisfied? Satisfied, definitely. It is always a little bit sad, really,
:55:02. > :55:07.to finish the season, but to be honest, the years go round, rather
:55:07. > :55:11.rapidly, as we get older, and we will be starting to work towards
:55:11. > :55:16.next season. I tell you what, well done, because I'll happily sit here
:55:16. > :55:21.and gorge myself senseless. You're welcome to. It's not just the local
:55:21. > :55:27.crop we're interested in, it is the national fruit crop as well. How did
:55:27. > :55:33.that do? From early reports, we can make some predictions. Let's start
:55:33. > :55:37.with our cherries. Like Andy, most cherry farmers are happy. The total
:55:37. > :55:40.British cherry crop is three times bigger than 2012.
:55:40. > :55:45.British cherry crop is three times Aroundthree and a half thousand
:55:45. > :55:49.tonnes. But our cherries are still dwarfed by Britain's ever-expanding
:55:49. > :55:55.strawberry crop. In harvest 2013, we grew 20 times
:55:55. > :56:02.for strawberries than cherries. Those berries were bigger than
:56:02. > :56:09.usual, and we are the too. -- sweeter too. Blackcurrants: after
:56:09. > :56:15.a couple of lean years, after a good winter chill means our blackcurrant
:56:15. > :56:21.farmers are smiling. It is still early days for the apple
:56:21. > :56:26.harvest, but the picture looks rosy compared to 2012 when terrible
:56:26. > :56:31.weather slashed our crop by a their. Harvest 2013 is almost back to
:56:31. > :56:35.normal, thanks to the sunny summer. The apples may be a little smaller
:56:35. > :56:40.than usual, but they're likely to be sweeter.
:56:40. > :56:45.Our great farme are - our grape farmers are likely to celebrate. In
:56:45. > :56:48.2012, they struggled to make 1 million bottles of wine. This year,
:56:48. > :56:54.we estimate grapes are up, and up, and up. There is likely to be three
:56:54. > :57:00.and a half million bottles of British wine if the good weather
:57:00. > :57:06.holds. Cheers. Overall, then, the fruit harvest has
:57:06. > :57:09.been good? In yes, I gather that the grapes exceptionally well. It's
:57:09. > :57:14.going to be a vintage year so our friends down the road tell us. Can
:57:14. > :57:18.we have a small celebration, then? Great. Particularly because apples
:57:18. > :57:22.did so badly last year as well and the year before, so it is really
:57:22. > :57:26.nice finally to have a good apple harvest. It must be nice for you
:57:26. > :57:30.guys to get to the end of a day? Yes. Of course, although we are back
:57:30. > :57:36.at it again tomorrow. Are you, Bev? Is that the case, you get to the end
:57:36. > :57:40.of the harvest and the work doesn't stop? They go home and we start
:57:40. > :57:45.cleaning for next year. Do you pull together or are you pushing them
:57:45. > :57:52.along? A bit of both!Says Gregg with a taste of experience!
:57:52. > :57:55.Well, what a year it has been. Better harvest than last year on the
:57:55. > :57:59.whole, I think, but then of course we've only touched on just a few
:57:59. > :58:04.crops really, and if you want to find out more, of course you can,
:58:04. > :58:12.and you can get hold of this harvest leaflet. Go on to our website: It's
:58:12. > :58:17.got more information, but also some rather lovely Gregg recipes in it.
:58:17. > :58:21.It will also give you details of free harvest events near you. Get
:58:21. > :58:25.involved. It's part of your heritage, and it is fantastic food.
:58:25. > :58:29.It's been a really good harvest. It's been brilliant - absolutely
:58:29. > :58:34.brilliant. Thank you very much. No problem. Cheers. Not going anywhere,
:58:34. > :58:40.are you? No.We've got this, we've got this!