Defra fruit and veg task force asking for your views.

[Nature's Babe]

How can we increase production and consumption and help our farmers?

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/p ... /index.htm

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
This year I enjoyed some fantastic Cherries which were grown with
protection from the elements at the flowering stage and again when the fruit was begining to ripen. But the farmer had to take down the protection and then reapply it all because of a stupid regulation from the Local Authority. This regulation cost the farmer an awful lot of money and his product could have been considerably cheaper. The Protection is netting and some polythene and thanks to Monty Don and his cronies who championed an anti Polythene tunnel campaign in this this county, which has always traditionally grown fruit the LA regulations have been tightened so much that the main fruit growers are leaving the county.
This action by Monty Don (who after all was only after self glorification)
has done a total dis-service to the country and certainly this county.
I feel that fruit growers should be licenced by DEFRA and the LA should have no say where these tunnels are concerned and the onus should rest with DEFRA as to the concentration of tunnels. This might sound rather drastic but very careful planning is needed when a person decides to go into to fruitgrowing and if they get a licence that covers all they then would know where they stand rather than the vagaries of LA regulations which can be changed at the drop of a hat and the regulations would cover all counties equally.
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Good point Johnboy, It seems they tie our farmers hands just as they do our fishermen. We are definitely over regulated, even in our trades accreditation is so costly folk can bankrupt themselves trying to achieve it, and it all adds to the cost of production which we pay for.Hope you intend feeding that through to them. I had some great cherries too, no protection but our garden is sheltered and we have a cat patrol!

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
I have never seen cherries like those produced in Herefordshire this year.
BTW The "Champion Cherry Grower" of the year comes from Herefordshire
this year but they were not his produce of which I speak.
I took a photogragh of a cherry sitting on top of a 50p piece from the top looking down and you cannot see the coin at all!
They were £1.50 per lb which to me is worth every penny.
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

In the shops here cherries were 5.99 a kilo, glad I can grow them !

[Nature's Babe]

I guess those cherry trees are on dwarfing stock Johnboy? When we lived in Kent the local orchard cherry trees were huge, and they used bird scarers like guns going off regularly. I have two morello cherries and two sweet cherries on dwarfing rootstocks.

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
Most Cherry Trees are now on dwarf rootstock and as you suspect so are the trees in question but they are not on Gisela 5 which is the normal one for home gardeners. They are on a French rootstock, the name of which escapes me, but the trees are produced in UK.
JB.