The start of the English cherry season is approaching, and Rachel Piper from Piper Cherries said that everything is looking good so far. Rachel's family grows cherries on 12 hectares in Kent, as well as some strawberries and pears on other sites.
"It is looking like we will get a slightly early start. It was looking late, but we have had lots of hot weather which has brought the crop on," said Rachel.
"Our first variety to ripen will be Nimba, which is a relatively new variety and a very early one. We are one of the latest growers in Kent to have cherries, our timing is more in line with Herefordshire. Nimba is a good one for us to have, and quite a few people have it now."
Rachel said that there are cherries on all of the trees, "Which is great to see, as sometimes one or two varieties can fail, if this is one of the big varieties, then the yield can be seriously down. We are a bit different from other growers in that we have 35 different varieties. Dad has always been very forward-thinking and looked for new varieties to try, so if it worked, we kept it, and some of our trees are 35 years old. It is also a good way to hedge our bets; if certain varieties fail, we still have fruit. It also extends our season."
Piper Cherries supply local farm shops and the wholesale markets.
"I'm optimistic for a good season, with the expected shortages from other countries, there will be fewer imports coming in. Retailers will then source more cherries from the bigger English growers, leaving more demand at the wholesalers for our fruit."
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