Ken has an update on things happening at Tiptree Farms, and how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the sales of the world famous jam.
World Radio Gardening reporter, Ken Crowther takes a visit to the fruit farm at Tiptree in Essex as the picking begins.
As spring approaches there is a season of hard work ahead. Bayer Garden’s Anita Dent and Ken Crowther caught up in the strawberry patch. This quintessential summer fruit is easy to grow in beds, however if you don’t have space you can take advantage of hanging baskets, containers and even drain pipes.
A new weather-proof structure at fruit growers Wilkin & Son at Tiptree in Essex has finally been finished. The size of large greenhouse and polythene clad the inside of the structure is home to racks of planted strawberries. It’s the first of its kind in the UK, and they are rightly proud as Anton Thurgood explained to Ken Crowther.
There are two different types of strawberry being grown at Wilkin and Sons farm in Tiptree. One is grown in polytunnel and the other left uncovered. The everbearing strawberry plant produces at a different time of the year to the June bearing which was planted in late July and cropped in late September as grower Andre explained to Ken Crowther.