Countryfile - Autumn Harvest
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The leaves are turning, the light levels are lowering, and the long days and nights of
00:14farmers bringing in the wheat and the barley are well and truly over.
00:19Autumn marks the culmination of many of our harvests, from apples and pears to winter
00:23vegetables like carrots and leeks.
00:26The last couple of years have been a turbulent time for growing our most popular vegetable,
00:31the potato.
00:32So what will this year's harvest mean for our spuds?
00:56Over 1.5 million tonnes of spuds are grown in the east of England each year, the lion's
01:13share of our country's potatoes.
01:16Contributing their portion on the Essex-Suffolk border is Fairfields Farm.
01:23It has been a tough time for potato farmers across the UK.
01:27Too much rain in some areas and too little in others, coupled with the rising cost of
01:32fertiliser has meant harvests have been hit hard this year.
01:38So how are they getting on at this farm?
01:43Pressure rises out in the field.
01:45Now you're sort of on a race against the clock and the weather to get the crop in before
01:49it turns.
01:51And we cool off in the storeroom.
01:54Potatoes at four or five degrees or above, they'll start to chip.
01:57It all happens pretty quickly.
01:58Yeah, if you lost control of a store, your whole crop would be rendered no good.
02:02Before things get heated in the factory.
02:04They'll be cooked in this batch for about eight minutes.
02:08So what I like standing here is I can see potatoes and I can see crisps.
02:12Yeah.
02:13And it all happens in this one section.
02:14All in a few minutes, yeah.
02:15Yeah, amazing.
02:18And along the way, I dig into the Countryfile archives to unearth our most memorable autumn
02:23harvests.
02:24You pick them like that, people used to say, or she can scratch them off well.
02:29Do you remember how much you were paid?
02:30I think it was a shill and a bushel.
02:32I think so, yeah.
02:33I have never been happier.
02:34I'm so happy right now.
02:35You should get the slivery glands going at the back of your mouth.
02:36I think my eyes are watering.
02:37You get accustomed to.
02:38All around us now, there are signs of harvest from stubble fields to berry laden hedgerows
02:58to trees of the last of their fruit.
03:00Nature has come full circle and is gearing up for the colder months ahead.
03:07Though it can be chilled by incoming cold Easterlies, this part of the country is prime
03:12growing land for potatoes.
03:14Its southerly position gives it plenty of light for a long growing season.
03:17It has moderate rainfall and a good variety of soils.
03:26I'm in Essex where third generation farmers Robert and Laura Strathern have been working
03:31the land for 24 years.
03:36My grandparents both came down from Ayrshire in Scotland in the late 20s, early 30s.
03:42Unbeknown to each other?
03:43Unbeknown to each other.
03:44It just happened.
03:45It just happened and both settled in this area.
03:48They brought their cattle down on the trains from Scotland to this area.
03:52So this is my grandfather here with his cows that he brought down.
03:58Goodness me, what a great picture.
04:01And you grew up on a farm then Laura, where potatoes are featured there as well.
04:06Yes, they were indeed.
04:07My father was quite a big potato farmer back in the 70s, 80s.
04:10It was all done by hand back then, so I remember the ladies coming into the field, picking
04:14the potatoes by hand, placing them into the baskets, then bagging them.
04:18Tell me about your farm today then.
04:20We grow around about 1,000 acres of potatoes and within the rotation we grow other crops
04:25like wheat, forage maize, forage rye and in total we farm an area of around about 3,000
04:31to 3,500 acres.
04:32It's good fun.
04:33It's good fun.
04:34It's one of the most stressful times.
04:35Yes, constantly looking at the weather.
04:37Is now the most stressful time of year, traditionally, the autumn?
04:40Yes, it certainly is because now you're sort of on a race against the clock and the weather
04:46to get the crop in before it turns.
04:48The only real way we can mitigate against that is to have the capacity to, when the
04:53weather is good, is to go very hard at it and with that comes investment and cost.
05:00You've even got your own reservoir.
05:02We use a huge amount of water, so we irrigate the crops often six, seven, eight, nine times
05:07per year.
05:08Particularly in south-east England.
05:09I mean, it is one of the, I think, the driest counties, isn't it, Essex, in the UK?
05:14Yes, it is.
05:15Not this week, but generally, yes, for sure.
05:21Robert and Laura have been pulling their main crop potatoes for the last two months and
05:26today the harvesters are rolling in for another day's work.
05:30Now these are pretty serious bits of kit.
05:33Talk me through it, Rob.
05:34OK, so on the front we've got a front topper, which takes the canopy and tops it off in
05:40the front.
05:41You've got a digging shear at the front here, so you dig the potatoes out of the beds.
05:45The soil is being sifted through these webs and then it's on to the back of the machine,
05:51elevator at the back, which then takes the potatoes up and round and on to the picking
05:56off table at the top and up there they can take out what's left of stone and clod, any
06:01bad potatoes, greens.
06:02I see, so there's actually a team of people up there.
06:05Yeah.
06:06So that's the first manual sort, is it?
06:07Yes, yeah.
06:08From there, they're elevated into the tumboxes on a flatbed trailer and tractor that runs
06:14alongside the machine.
06:15And how many trips would they be doing in a day?
06:17Four, five, six, seven, eight, depending on how quick we're going.
06:20And you can clear a decent bit of land with all three machines.
06:26These immensely powerful machines are able to lift up to 250 tonnes of tatties a day.
06:33It must feel good when it is all just clicking into gear, all three of them are out there
06:38just going to the full power.
06:40Absolutely.
06:41There's nothing better than when the machines are flying and everything's roaring into the
06:43yard and, yeah, it's a great feeling.
06:50These days most crops require very specialised harvest equipment and in 2014 Matt helped
06:55out on a leek farm with a serious bit of kit.
07:01Lincolnshire's wide, flat plains host acres of our favourite green veggies, stretching
07:06as far as the eye can see.
07:09And for harvests this big, you need big kit, especially if you're pulling in one particular
07:14crop.
07:15As well as wheat, barley, spuds and sugar beet, they grow leeks here, and lots of them.
07:24Farmer Tim Casey harvests around 650 tonnes of leeks a year.
07:28So, Tim, when did you start then your harvest?
07:31We started this year in the middle of August, a little bit later than usual.
07:35And how long will you be harvesting for, do you know?
07:38Well, yeah, we'll be harvesting right through till the following May potentially, weather
07:42and crop permitting.
07:44Okay.
07:45So obviously the key is when you plant, your leeks just talk us through the year.
07:49Yeah, it's a combination of planting and variety.
07:52The seed will be drilled into the ground, that's this crop here, that'll happen in March.
07:57We will have some plants, which we transplant, and they go in in April time.
08:02And then we'll drill up until early May time, and that crop will be taken the following
08:08April, May time.
08:09And you are situated perfectly beside this airfield.
08:14Yeah, RAF Cottingsby.
08:16Yeah, frontline air defence base.
08:19Goodness me.
08:21It's quite a regular occurrence.
08:22Is it?
08:23Yeah.
08:24Tim also has some high-tech hardware to help on his farming frontline.
08:27Tim, have you any idea how many leeks you grow a year?
08:30Yeah, it's going to be roughly about 12 million, yeah.
08:3312 million!
08:34So obviously you need all the help that you can get, and that is where this bit of kit
08:39comes in.
08:40Yeah, I mean, this is a really important piece of machinery for us when we get really cold
08:44weather, frosts and freezing ground, we can't get them out of the ground.
08:49It has high capacity, so we can get all those leeks up quickly.
08:52And am I right in saying that she is the only one of her kind in the UK?
08:56She is, yes.
08:59No matter how high-tech, a harvester still needs a driver.
09:03Great, right.
09:04Lots of controls to play with.
09:05Yeah, yeah, there's a computer screen, and there's a camera, and you've got the joystick.
09:10OK, well, let's not hang around much longer.
09:13Let's get harvesting.
09:19We're just making sure that the points are running on either side of the leek, so the
09:26leeks feed up into the machine nicely.
09:28We've got the automatic depth control going on the computer here, so that's sorting all
09:33that out for us.
09:34We don't have to worry about that.
09:35So it's just a case of point forwards and go.
09:38Absolutely remarkable how smoothly it's just going across the crop, and they're just disappearing
09:46behind us into these boxes.
09:49And it's all so ordered as well, I think.
09:51That's the joy, and it's so clean as well.
09:54Yeah, that's what makes this machine so important to us, because it does a really good job of
09:58actually keeping things clean, which saves so much time.
10:04Having had a very brief lesson, time for me to lend a hand.
10:07We're already turning there then.
10:12There we go.
10:15I can't look behind me.
10:17I feel like I'm just absolutely 100% focused on what's going on down to the right-hand
10:21side of me.
10:22I'm not ruining your crop.
10:24No, no, they're all right.
10:28Just so remarkably technical.
10:31You've got all of this technology going on the right-hand side of you.
10:34You're looking down here.
10:35You can feel and see leeks just shooting up there.
10:39Just something else.
10:45But this modern technology can very occasionally go wrong.
10:49Just ask Adam.
10:51A few weeks back, what should have been a routine harvest on his neighbour's farm
10:55turned into a major emergency.
10:58Is he all right?
10:59John, here, I'll take you down.
11:00Just go, then.
11:01Make sure no-one's in here.
11:02I'll get a friend of...
11:03Where the hell is he?
11:04Hang on, Steve.
11:05Take that.
11:06Come on.
11:09Yeah, there.
11:15We've got a bit of a disaster.
11:16We've got our machine here.
11:17It's burst into flames in the field where we're combining.
11:20So I'm just going to get there, make sure the bloke's all right,
11:22and then try and stop the fire.
11:31Luckily, the driver escaped unharmed.
11:33But the crop was now burning out of control,
11:35and there seemed little he could do to stop it.
11:43We've called the fire brigade.
11:44They should be on their way.
11:46All we'll have to do is get a machine out here,
11:48circle this fire to cultivate the soil
11:51so that it can't run through the whole field down to the village.
11:56But the flames continued to spread.
11:59It's into the crop.
12:01Flames now totally engulfed the vehicle.
12:04Its engine was still full of flammable fuel.
12:07The whole thing was set to blow.
12:14My heart is absolutely pounding.
12:17We've just got to wait for the experts to turn up.
12:20I've never seen anything like this.
12:21That is a real blaze.
12:23We've got to stand way back
12:24because the machine's just exploding.
12:31I'm shaking like a leaf.
12:33Within minutes, the fire brigade arrived.
12:35Adam and his team had done what they could.
12:38Now it was over to the professionals.
12:40Well, as Adam can testify,
12:41things don't always go to plan with harvest.
12:44And you can't always predict
12:45how conditions are going to affect the crops,
12:48as Helen found out back in 2018.
12:52The summer that year had been one of the hottest on record,
12:55and Helen visited the Vale of York
12:57to see how our carrot farmers had fared.
13:02It was a hot summer.
13:03It was a hot summer.
13:04It was a hot summer.
13:05It was a hot summer.
13:06It was a hot summer.
13:07It was a hot summer.
13:08It was a hot summer.
13:10Roger Hobson is a third-generation producer
13:13who grows 38,000 tonnes of carrots in a good year.
13:17And this place is the UK's largest grower of carrots
13:20for the processing market.
13:23They're going to be made into all manner of things.
13:25You know, carrot battens, carrot sticks, coleslaw.
13:28They'll go in your Cornish pasties and your cottage pies.
13:31You won't have to cut up my carrots.
13:33They'll be done for you.
13:34Talk me through your season, then.
13:35Do you have one crop?
13:37Yeah, we plant one crop in the springtime,
13:40hopefully in March and April, if the weather's kind.
13:43And then we start harvesting them in July.
13:46And then we harvest them all the way through.
13:48In the winter, we cover them up with straw.
13:50That protects them from the frost.
13:52And we keep harvesting them from under the straw
13:54all the way till the new crop's ready next July.
13:57How easy is it to grow carrots?
14:02Not as easy as you think,
14:03because to start with, you want very sandy soils.
14:06So there's only certain areas where carrots can be grown.
14:09Carrots are quite susceptible to disease.
14:11So we grow carrots in the same field about every 10 years.
14:14Once every 10... That's a big rotation, isn't it?
14:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:17So I've only got one or two more crops in this field in my career.
14:23Roger, explain the relay that's happening here.
14:26Yeah, so here we have Phil topping the carrots.
14:29The front of the tractor is taking the green off the carrots.
14:32And the back is taking the top of the carrot off
14:36while the carrot stood the right way up in the ground.
14:40Sandy soil like this lacks nutrients,
14:42so all this carrot waste makes a perfect green fertiliser.
14:47The harvester's digging them out,
14:49sieves the soil out,
14:50and then puts the carrots into the trailer.
14:55Today, Andy, who drives this beast of a harvester,
14:58is trusting me with his pride and joy.
15:01I've got to deliver the goods to Jack with his tractor and trailer,
15:04who will be hot on our heels.
15:07Now, I'm used to driving tractors,
15:09but nothing quite as big as this.
15:11Hiya, Andy.
15:12Hiya.
15:13Nice to meet you.
15:14Nice to meet you.
15:15You're a brave man.
15:16No, I've heard you're pretty good.
15:18Right.
15:20Flick that switch. Press that switch there.
15:23You've got to just sort of, like, stir it
15:25so you can see the other side of that one.
15:27I just want to look at the view.
15:30I recognise nervous laughter when I hear it.
15:33Oh.
15:34Oh, sorry.
15:35No, don't worry.
15:36I was too busy looking at my soil.
15:38That's it, yeah.
15:40Am I actually churning any up yet?
15:42Yeah, yeah, that's fine.
15:43You can see them.
15:44If you just lean forward a bit,
15:45you can see them popping up and coming out of the ground.
15:47Oh, good, good.
15:50All these harvested carrots need offloading on the move
15:53and spread the full length of the trailer.
15:56Tricky.
15:57Right, so who is the pressure on here to go at the right speed?
16:00Me or Jack?
16:01Him.
16:02Good, I like your answer.
16:04Keep stirring it straight.
16:05I'll sort of...
16:06You've got to watch what's happening over there, don't you,
16:08seeing it at the same time.
16:09Oh, right.
16:10He's actually getting them.
16:11Oh, we're at the end.
16:12Come on, Jack, speed up.
16:13That's it, don't worry.
16:14Keep stirring it.
16:15Keep stirring it.
16:16Keep stirring it.
16:17Keep stirring it.
16:18Keep stirring it.
16:19That's it, don't worry.
16:20It's full.
16:21I have never been happier.
16:23I'm so happy right now.
16:25That's it, you've got it.
16:26Finished.
16:33But it's not all fun and games on Hobson's farm.
16:36Roger's early carrots that I've helped pull up look perfect,
16:39but a harsh late winter and baking dry summer
16:42have really hit his later main crop.
16:46These were the carrots you've been harvesting today.
16:48Right.
16:49And these are our main crop carrots,
16:51which, as you can see, it's the beginning of September.
16:54They've only got a month to grow
16:56and they're just not going to make the size.
16:58So this is the size of carrot you want?
17:00Yes.
17:01And this is what you're getting?
17:02Yes.
17:03The main crop carrots that we're planning to pull out
17:05for the next 10 months are going to be a lot smaller
17:07and there's going to be less of them, less weight.
17:10So 30% less carrots for a business like ours, Helen,
17:13that's about 9,000 tonnes.
17:159,000.
17:17I mean, financially, that's going to have a big impact, isn't it?
17:19Massively. Massively.
17:23So, six years on, how have they fared?
17:26Well, Roger says this year's crop of carrots
17:28is looking great for both him and growers around the country.
17:31But poor weather last year means imported carrots
17:34have been seen on our shelves in recent months.
17:41Here at the farm in Essex, potato farmer Robert Strathern
17:44has been harvesting since mid-July.
17:46And the journey doesn't stop here
17:48for the crop that's already been lifted.
17:54Some vegetables are on the supermarket shelves
17:56within a day or two of being picked,
17:58but most potatoes store really well,
18:01giving the farmer flexibility in the coming months.
18:07This is one of the potato cold stores
18:10that we're bringing crop into at the moment.
18:13This store here will hold about 1,100 tonnes of potatoes.
18:17We're forcing ventilation through them with these big fans.
18:20Ah, OK.
18:21And we're gradually taking the harvest heat out of the potatoes
18:24and bringing them down to, in here, 2.5 to 3 degrees.
18:28If potatoes are 4, 5 degrees or above, they'll start to chip.
18:32It all happens pretty quickly as well, doesn't it?
18:34It does, yeah.
18:35Imagine you could lose control very quickly.
18:37Yeah, if you lost control of a store,
18:39then your whole crop would be rendered no good.
18:41That's a big part of our cost.
18:43When inflation happened for power,
18:45that made a big impact on our business.
18:47But in terms of making sure that we've got crop available,
18:50it's imperative that we have our own crop in our own store
18:53so we're in control of it.
18:55Just how many potatoes are you producing?
18:57Per year, we produce about 23,000 to 25,000 tonnes of potatoes a year.
19:05How long could these stay in here?
19:07We'll harvest these now and they'll stay in store
19:10until about early July.
19:12So these will be some of the latest ones that we actually use.
19:15And then we need to make sure that we're planting in the spring
19:18to make sure that we've got new crop by the end of July
19:21so we've got complete continuity of crop.
19:23And that is your whole season, then?
19:25That's your whole cycle.
19:27I notice there is a bit of mud on them.
19:29You haven't done anything to them.
19:31You've brought them straight from the field, have you?
19:33Yeah, so when they come into store,
19:35there's a bit of soil on the tuber.
19:37As soon as you wash a potato, you reduce its life cycle
19:40and you take the protection off the top.
19:42So we only wash the potato just before use.
19:44At this stage, with that amount of soil on them,
19:46they'll keep in the store.
19:48Are you happy with the crop there?
19:50The ones you have lifted, are they looking good?
19:52They're what you'd expect?
19:54Yeah, it's been quite a mixed bag this year.
19:56The plantings that we did early on seem to be the best crops
19:58and the later crops that we planted
20:00towards the end of May are not so good.
20:02So we're going to have quite a mixed bag of crop this year, I think.
20:05But generally, quality seems to be quite good.
20:10Potatoes have been a household staple in the UK
20:14for centuries in one form or another.
20:16But some foods go in and out of fashion,
20:18as John found out in 2016
20:20when he joined the autumn harvest
20:22of a crop seeing a revival.
20:26I'm in Kent, the Garden of England,
20:28with its bountiful landscape
20:30of hop fields and orchards.
20:32Well, I'm not here today for the fruit.
20:34Instead, I'm going to be discovering
20:36about a particular Kentish delicacy
20:38that's also ripe for picking.
20:40One field where it grows
20:42is here in the village of St Mary's Platte.
20:44And this is what I'm here for,
20:46the Kentish cobnut,
20:48the only nut in the world
20:50that can be eaten straight from the tree.
20:52The owner of this cobnut field
20:54is Alexander Hunt.
20:56He's also chairman
20:58of the Kentish Cobnut Association,
21:00which is an association
21:02Alexander, I've heard of Kentish cobnuts,
21:04but I don't really know what they are.
21:06I mean, it's not a thing you see
21:08in shops every day, is it?
21:10Well, they're a cultivated hazelnut.
21:12They're a lovely, fresh dessert nut
21:14full of moisture and succulents
21:16at this time of the year.
21:18And here we have hazelnut trees.
21:20And here we've got cobnut.
21:22Let's have a look at the difference.
21:24These are the wild hazels
21:26in the hedge here.
21:28Can you see that hazel?
21:31That's a much smaller nut there.
21:33Slightly rounder,
21:35with a slightly serrated husk.
21:37Behind me here
21:39is one of our Kent cobnut trees.
21:41This was planted in about 1900.
21:43And you can see
21:45from the little cluster there...
21:47Oh, much bigger, isn't it?
21:49Larger, bigger, bolder nut.
21:51And how many cobnut trees have you got here?
21:53We've got about seven acres here
21:55and about 1,500 trees
21:57within the plantation.
22:01And for me, the big question now is
22:03what do they taste like?
22:05Well, let me crack one for you, John.
22:09Oh, they are soft, aren't they?
22:11They're very, very fresh.
22:13They're the finest nuts you can buy in the country.
22:15And they do have a very strong taste as well.
22:17They do?
22:19Sweet, strong taste.
22:21Middle of September, the husk begins to get
22:23a little bit more mellow, golden and light brown.
22:25And that's when they really gain
22:27their true Kentish cobnut flavour.
22:29Well, I'm converted to cobnuts now.
22:31I'm really pleased to hear it.
22:35Hugely popular in Victorian times,
22:37cobnuts lost some of their appeal
22:39during the last century.
22:41But now a group of dedicated enthusiasts
22:43is encouraging us
22:45to fall in love with them again.
22:47The orchards where the cobnuts grow
22:49are known as plats.
22:51It's an old Kentish word
22:53for flat, cultivated land.
22:55And the people who pick the nuts
22:57guess what, nutters.
22:59Sarah, are you happy being a nutter?
23:01I'm very happy being a nutter.
23:03Yes, it's a good name for us, isn't it?
23:05And how long have you been a nutter?
23:07Ooh, about five years now.
23:09Yes, we come and help.
23:11And is there any special technique
23:13to picking the cobnuts?
23:15Well, you pick the green ones and not the brown ones.
23:17Do you like cobnuts?
23:19I adore them, yes.
23:21Especially when they're fresh and green?
23:23When they're fresh and when they're creamy and green.
23:26Everybody I know loves them when they're like this.
23:30After a hard day's picking out in the fields,
23:32what could be better than
23:34a cobnut feast for us nutters?
23:36Let's tuck in, everybody, shall we?
23:38Come on.
23:40Since John's visit eight years ago,
23:42cobnut grower Alexander says
23:44interest in English-grown nuts
23:46has never been greater than now,
23:48with the most notable change being
23:50the increase in demand for vegan
23:52and vegetarian dishes.
23:56I'm on a potato farm
23:58in Essex with farmer Robert Strathairn,
24:00where the machines have been out
24:02in the fields testing
24:04if conditions are right to harvest today.
24:06How do you know
24:08when the potatoes are ready to harvest?
24:10The potatoes are ready
24:12in terms of the skins being set.
24:14We can sort of rub the skins like that
24:16and we can see that the skins are fully set
24:18and they're ready to go into store
24:20and they'll keep in store.
24:22How has the harvest been this year generally?
24:24We've been able to lift most of the time.
24:26We had a very wet spring,
24:28so March, April and May were quite wet months,
24:30so that delayed the planting
24:32for this year,
24:34and then that delays harvest date as well.
24:36Delayed planting means you're more likely
24:38to come up against wet weather towards the end of the year?
24:40Yeah.
24:42It's not easy, is it?
24:44No. A crop of potatoes, being very intensive,
24:46is around £4,000 per acre
24:48to grow an acre of spuds.
24:50If you compare that to wheat,
24:53that's around about £500 an acre,
24:55so it's quite a leap.
24:57Seven to eight times more cost?
24:59Yeah.
25:01You can soon find yourself in a loss-making scenario,
25:03which is what I think over
25:05a number of years some UK growers
25:07have found themselves in.
25:09Potatoes has become
25:11a very high-risk crop.
25:13Generally, the potato air has been dropping
25:15as growers have less appetite
25:17for that risk.
25:19I think as long as we get them out of the ground,
25:21And where are you along that path?
25:23Have you got half of them out now,
25:25or more than half?
25:27We're about 75-80%.
25:29So we need a good, dry fortnight
25:31to get our crop out of the ground.
25:33The last bit is the most important bit.
25:35So nerves of steel, being a potato farmer?
25:37It's not for the faint-hearted.
25:39No.
25:41Farm workers Michael and Bob
25:43are due to harvest today,
25:45but not long after arriving,
25:47they bring unwelcome news.
25:49It's too wet to harvest.
25:51How's today been?
25:53Wet.
25:55It sort of looks like it should be fine now,
25:57but it just isn't, is it?
25:59Yeah, we tried here this morning.
26:01It's just so wet here.
26:03And you know pretty quickly once you start, do you?
26:05Yeah, basically it just blocks everything up.
26:07So now we're going to move, well,
26:0940 minutes down the road.
26:11So try and find something a bit drier now.
26:13We're struggling a lot with moving the machines.
26:15Trailers, they cannot get out of the fields.
26:18We keep trying from field to field at the moment.
26:22It's a frustrating development for Robert,
26:24who's keen to get the last of the crop in
26:26and secure this year's investment.
26:28But it's not unsurprising,
26:30with the wet spring pushing the harvest later
26:32not just here, but across the country.
26:40For farmers, choosing what produce to grow
26:42can be a huge decision and a bit of a gamble
26:44on one that may not pay off.
26:46Now back in 2020,
26:48bad weather and a challenging harvest
26:50led Adam to start scoping out
26:52new crops to try.
26:58In here we've got our winter wheat,
27:00the most valuable crop on the farm.
27:02And due to the weather,
27:04unfortunately the yield is around
27:0625-30% down.
27:08So usually this heap of grain
27:10would be pushing against the door.
27:12We'd have to have panels in to hold it in.
27:14This is wheat which is ground up into flour
27:16to make bread.
27:18It's extremely valuable,
27:20worth £200 a tonne this year.
27:22But only if it makes the spec.
27:24Otherwise, this 500 tonnes will go for animal feed.
27:28We did manage to harvest it
27:30before the worst of the rain,
27:32so I'm hoping that was enough.
27:34We're relying on this wheat to make the grade.
27:38Thankfully, it has.
27:40And that means that it's worth a very good price.
27:43That high price has made up
27:45for a bit of a lack of yield.
27:47So we've managed to get away with it,
27:49but there's plenty across the country that didn't.
27:51Nationally, the wheat crop
27:53is estimated to be down nearly 40%
27:55on last year.
27:57That's the lowest UK production
27:59in at least 30 years.
28:01We saved our own wheat by the skin of our teeth,
28:03too close for comfort.
28:05If we have more years like this,
28:07we may need to grow something else in the future.
28:09I'm keen to discover
28:11what else is out there,
28:13so I'm heading east
28:15to a farm in Norfolk
28:17that's road-testing
28:19a very different crop
28:21to what I'm used to.
28:23This is the first farm
28:25to successfully harvest
28:27a commercial crop
28:29of British-grown chickpeas,
28:31a pulse which makes
28:33one of Britain's best-loved dips,
28:35hummus.
28:37Now, between you and me,
28:39this is what I want to eat.
28:45Wow, Henry, chickpeas.
28:47This is a first for me.
28:49Never seen these before.
28:51The British public spent £128 million
28:53on hummus last year,
28:55about a third more
28:57than just four years ago,
28:59so chickpeas are quickly becoming big business.
29:03Henry Raker normally grows
29:05potatoes, onions and carrots
29:08in Norfolk's Breckland.
29:10He grew his first crop of chickpeas
29:12last year on just 12 acres.
29:14This year, he's harvesting 30 acres,
29:16so it must be going well.
29:18Excuse my ignorance,
29:20but where does it grow normally,
29:22not in the UK?
29:24We generally see it coming in
29:26from Turkey, Morocco, Spain,
29:28a bit from Italy.
29:30The cheap stuff comes in from Argentina.
29:32This is a big experiment to be growing
29:34such a desert crop in Norfolk.
29:36What sort of yields are you getting?
29:38Last year we had two tonnes a hectare
29:40and this year I think
29:42it's going to be about 1.3, 1.5.
29:44It's been dramatically affected
29:46by drought, followed by
29:48rain, drought, rain.
29:50Henry's final yield
29:52was actually 1.1 tonne per hectare,
29:54even lower than predicted.
29:56But it still hasn't put him off.
29:58Henry sells his chickpeas
30:00to a small food company
30:02founded by Josiah Meldrum.
30:04You must be Josiah.
30:06Ah, yes.
30:08He works with British farmers like Henry
30:10to grow and sell pulses
30:12and heritage grains.
30:14Josiah believes these ancient crops
30:16are better for the environment
30:18and the farmer's pocket
30:20than the big modern commodities.
30:22We've been growing wheat, barley
30:24and oilseed rape on the farm
30:26for as long as I can remember
30:28and I suppose we are a bit stuck in our ways.
30:30What would you recommend that we try?
30:33There are some crops
30:35that might work particularly well for you,
30:37the lentils for example.
30:39Lentils used to be grown in the UK
30:41and there's a historic record of them
30:43being grown right the way up into the Northern Isles.
30:45We just completely forgot how to do it.
30:47There's things on here that I've never heard of.
30:49You're growing all these in the UK?
30:51That's right.
30:53Some that are really old-fashioned and traditional
30:55like emmer, one of the first wheats
30:57to be grown by Neolithic farmers.
30:59These are great, but I'm wondering
31:01if Henry's Norfolk chickpeas
31:03will cost more to produce than Turkish chickpeas?
31:07Will the consumer pay that extra?
31:09People have become a lot more engaged
31:11with where their food has come from
31:13and they're realising the importance of UK production.
31:15So you're going to get a lot higher margin
31:17on all of these crops
31:19but I think the key thing is you're taking a lot more risk.
31:21We might be 50% down this year.
31:23That's a big hit.
31:25So high risk but potentially high reward?
31:27Yes, absolutely.
31:30There are some quick fixes in farming.
31:32You might get paid more
31:34but whether you're looking to the future with chickpeas
31:36or back to some of Britain's oldest crops
31:38you can still get hammered by the weather.
31:40It's never easy.
31:48In times gone by harvesting was a much more manual affair
31:50and in 2021 Anita visited
31:52one of the last people to remember
31:54picking hops by hand in Herefordshire.
32:00Here in Burley Gate near Bromyard
32:02harvest time once relied
32:04on local communities.
32:06At harvest time
32:08over the centuries this village would have been
32:10deserted as the population
32:12headed to the surrounding fields
32:14to pick the hops.
32:16But what this? This is just my new look.
32:2286-year-old Sheila Hintz
32:24is one of the last remaining pickers
32:26of the pre-mechanised days
32:28of hop harvest
32:30and I have a surprise for her.
32:32Look at this!
32:34That's the first I've seen this year.
32:36Is it? Look at that.
32:38Smell it.
32:40Doesn't that bring back all the memories?
32:42That's what I miss.
32:44I'm glad. I thought you might.
32:46Oh that's beautiful.
32:48So I've been hop harvesting.
32:50Hard work it is too.
32:52I bet it was much harder when you were a girl Sheila.
32:54So what did you do?
32:56This was called a hop bine.
32:58You picked them like that.
33:00Each individual?
33:02Not individual, just sprays like that.
33:04So get rid of the leaves.
33:06Hold it down the other way.
33:08That's it. That's the way.
33:10People used to say, oh she can scratch them off well.
33:12Sheila started hop picking
33:14in 1942
33:16when she was just 7 years old.
33:18Mum used to take me
33:20she'd had a black umbrella
33:22open it up
33:25stick it down into the ground
33:27and I had to fill that with hops
33:29and then I could go and play with the other children.
33:33It wasn't unusual for mothers and their youngsters
33:35to pick side by side.
33:37In fact, until 1953
33:39the autumn term in Herefordshire schools
33:41was even delayed
33:43by a few weeks to enable
33:45families to harvest the hops.
33:47That's
33:49me.
33:51That's you.
33:53So that's three generations.
33:55Yeah.
33:57Hop picking could really help
33:59with many families incomes.
34:01Do you remember how much
34:03you were paid?
34:05I think it was a shill and a bushel.
34:07Why did you have to do it?
34:09Or is that just because everybody did that?
34:11It was the money, dear.
34:13And because I wanted a bicycle
34:15at the end of hop picking
34:17I'd earn £9.
34:19Rich?
34:21Rich.
34:23And there was a cycle shop in Hereford
34:25called Watson's
34:27and I'd chosen this bicycle
34:29it was £10.
34:31So mum gave me
34:33a pound to go towards it.
34:35So your first bicycle was bought
34:37using the earnings from hop picking?
34:39Yes.
34:41And it wasn't just the locals who flocked to the hop yards.
34:43A man used to live
34:45right on the bank there
34:47and he used to go to Dudley
34:50and bring all these people back
34:52that wanted to go hop picking.
34:54And they slept in the buildings
34:56on straw
34:58but they brought their own beds
35:00all their own cooking utensils
35:02everything.
35:04And it was like a holiday to them.
35:06They loved it. Absolutely loved it.
35:08The Welsh used to come
35:10and we used to love it
35:12because they'd be singing
35:14and singing
35:16and I used to love to hear them singing
35:18and I said she's never heard
35:20Bread of Heaven sung so beautifully.
35:24But behind the camaraderie and fun
35:26the hop harvest
35:28was a serious and highly respected
35:30operation.
35:32My father
35:34was in the army
35:36and every year
35:38they gave him special leave
35:40because he could dry the hops
35:42well.
35:44And he used to come home to dry the hops
35:46because it was a specialist job.
35:48So he used to get special leave
35:50from the army?
35:52Yes.
35:54And just before the war ended
35:56my father was stationed in Norway
35:58and they sent him home
36:00from Norway to dry the hops.
36:02Oh he must have been good.
36:04However
36:06those days were to end.
36:08Right across the UK harvesting machinery
36:10in the 1960s took over
36:12from the likes of Sheila
36:15to the very last hops in 1969.
36:19Do you miss it?
36:21I do and I miss
36:23this perfume and everything
36:25the hops. I really do.
36:41Well if you're a farmer or you have a kitchen
36:43garden you will know that a good harvest
36:45is all about timing
36:47which means you have to plan for it
36:49and for that you'll need a calendar.
36:51And what do you know
36:53we have one of those for you.
36:55So if you would like to get your hands on the
36:572025 Countryfile calendar
36:59here's John with the details of how you can buy one.
37:03It costs £10.99
37:05which includes UK delivery.
37:07You can go to our website
37:09bbc.co.uk
37:12where you'll find a link
37:14to the order page.
37:18Or you can phone the order line
37:20on 0330
37:22333 4564
37:24Standard
37:26geographic charges will apply
37:28to both landlines and mobiles.
37:30The line will be available
37:32from Monday to Friday
37:349am to 8pm
37:36and Saturdays from 10am
37:38to 4pm.
37:40If you prefer to order
37:42by post then send your name
37:44address and a cheque
37:46to BBC Countryfile Calendar
37:48PO Box 25
37:50Melton Mowbray
37:52LE13 1ZG
37:56Please make your cheques
37:58payable to BBC Countryfile Calendar
38:00A minimum of
38:02£5 for the sale of each calendar
38:04will be donated to the
38:06BBC's Children in Need appeal.
38:08Countryfile Calendars have raised
38:10more than £30 million
38:12for the charity since we started selling them.
38:14Let's see how much we can
38:16add to that total with the calendar
38:18for 2025.
38:20It's up to you.
38:24Well clearly weather is critical
38:26to any harvest and as we found out today
38:28it can really have an impact on the potatoes.
38:30It looks brilliant at the moment
38:32yet deep down here it is too wet.
38:34But what has the weather got in store
38:37for the week ahead?
38:39Here's the Countryfile forecast.
38:47Hello there. The weather over the week ahead
38:49is going to be much quieter.
38:51Today we've had our first
38:53named storm of the season.
38:55This of course was Storm Ashley
38:57and it's been tracking to the northwest of the UK
38:59and that's why we've had the strongest of the winds
39:01here but it will continue to move away
39:03overnight. But we've still got
39:05some amber wind warnings from the Met Office.
39:07The one in Northern Ireland is soon going to
39:09expire and the winds will start to ease.
39:11The one in Western Scotland will continue
39:13to midnight. We're seeing gusts of 70
39:15even 80 miles an hour and with some
39:17high spring tides there still could be some
39:19coastal flooding. But as the low
39:21the storm tracks to the north of Scotland
39:23the winds will ease in Northern Ireland.
39:25It'll stay windy well into the night though
39:27for Scotland and maybe the northeast of England
39:29and there'll be some showers too.
39:31Further south, lighter winds and not as many showers
39:33and it should be a mild night. Temperatures generally
39:35staying in double figures.
39:37Now the Storm Ashley, what's left of it
39:39will continue to track away so things
39:41quieten down a bit on Monday. That weather front
39:43though, just hanging around through the English
39:45Channel bringing more cloud for East Anglia
39:47and the southeast. Maybe the chance of a bit of rain
39:49here too. Most of the showers
39:51though will be coming into Scotland.
39:53The winds do tend to ease down a bit here.
39:55We'll see some showers later in Northern Ireland.
39:57For many parts of England and Wales
39:59it'll be dry on Monday with some sunshine.
40:02It's still mild. Temperatures of 13 to 15 degrees.
40:06We're entering a spell of quieter weather
40:08after that storm. Some much needed
40:10drier weather. It'll be breezy. It'll be mild.
40:12No frost. Maybe some changes
40:14at the end of the week.
40:16But considering how wet it was in September
40:18and how wet it's been in some places
40:20in October, we need some drier weather.
40:22All these locations have had well
40:24over a month's worth of rain already
40:26and that was before the rain that we had today.
40:28Now there won't be much rain on Tuesday.
40:30We've got a west-to-southwesterly breeze
40:32not strong. It'll bring
40:34one or two showers into Wales, southern England
40:36perhaps Scotland and Northern Ireland
40:38but not very much. And those temperatures
40:40could be back up to a very mild 16
40:42or 17 degrees. Now around
40:44the middle part of the week, it's high pressure
40:46that will be a little more dominant
40:48as it pushes across from the west.
40:50It'll steer those weather fronts away
40:52from the north-west and take that rain
40:54away as well. But with lighter winds
40:56nearer the high for England and Wales
40:58we'll have mist and fog around on Wednesday
41:00morning that'll slowly tend to lift
41:02and many places we'll see some sunshine
41:04coming through. We've still got somewhat stronger winds
41:06in the far north-west of the country
41:08but temperatures reaching 15 degrees in the central
41:10belt to a high of 17 or 18
41:12in the sunshine in the south-east
41:14of England. That high pressure does move
41:16away though by Thursday and we'll
41:18see a southerly breeze picking up ahead
41:20of this weather front that comes in from the Atlantic
41:22and brings a bit of a change eventually.
41:24But with more of a breeze on Thursday
41:26there won't be much mist and fog around.
41:28Eastern areas staying dry with some sunshine.
41:30It's in the west that we'll see
41:32pressure falling, some showers breaking out
41:34ahead of that weather front bringing rain
41:36into Northern Ireland. But we've still got temperatures of 14
41:38to 17 degrees.
41:40Now that weather front that's in the west
41:42will push its way eastwards on Thursday
41:44night into a Friday followed by some
41:46showers. But it shunts away
41:48that warm southerly breeze into
41:50continental Europe and the wind direction
41:52will change on Friday.
41:54There'll still be some early rain to clear away
41:56from overnight for some eastern areas.
41:58That moves through and then we get some sunshine,
42:00we get some showers, mainly coming in on
42:02that northerly wind this time for western Scotland
42:04and Northern Ireland pushing into Wales
42:06and the south-west. And on Friday afternoon
42:08we've got temperatures back down to 11
42:10to 14 Celsius.
42:12That's it from me. Have a good week ahead.
42:14Goodbye.
42:24I'm in Essex at harvest time
42:26on Robert and Laura Strathairn's
42:28potato farm.
42:30And looking through the Countryfile archives
42:32at autumn harvests gone by.
42:34The flatland here is
42:36just perfect for spuds but
42:38farmers need to be prepared to grow on
42:40all kinds of landscapes like
42:42Mark Taburn who grows the most
42:44north-westerly crop of barley in Britain.
42:50The Isle of Lewis is one of the first
42:52places in the UK to feel the bite
42:54of autumn. And as the season
42:56moves in early, Mark has to
42:58harvest his cereal crop in blustery
43:00conditions. I don't think there's
43:02anybody else in the whole of the
43:04Western Isles growing malted
43:06barley.
43:08This is unforgiving land for arable
43:10farming. Mark's 36
43:12year old combine, the only working
43:14one on the island, frequently
43:16gets stuck or breaks down on the bumpy
43:18terrain.
43:20The main challenges of growing arable
43:22crops on the island, obviously one, the weather.
43:24When you're wanting rain, it doesn't
43:26rain. And when you want it to be dry,
43:28the heavens open.
43:30The terrain can be quite challenging
43:32as well. There's not many areas
43:34which you can work a
43:36combine harvester on the island.
43:38You've got to be very patient.
43:40Or daft.
43:46But Mark perseveres for
43:48one simple reason.
43:50We started making single
43:52malt whiskey back in 2008.
43:54The climate is ideal
43:56for making single malt whiskey.
43:58We have probably the softest water
44:00in the country. Also,
44:02the barley we grow here, our air quality
44:04is second to none.
44:06Pretty special for making whiskey.
44:12It is a true Isle of Lewis
44:14single malt. You know, barley, the peat,
44:16the water, everything is done
44:18on the island.
44:22Where we're standing just now,
44:24we're right on the east of Lewis.
44:26Next stop is
44:28mainland Scotland.
44:30Now, where the distillery
44:32is, you go west as far as
44:34you can until you hit the coast.
44:36Next stop
44:38is America.
44:42Mark has been waiting weeks
44:44for a dry spell to combine
44:46his 20 acres of barley.
44:48Sometimes you won't get
44:50barley to malt, sometimes you'll get a very
44:52low yield for whatever reason.
44:54Sometimes you'll get a better yield.
44:56Every day is a school day
44:58and as we're getting older, we seem to be
45:00getting a wee bit better at it.
45:02We're looking for around about
45:04a ton of malt in barley
45:06to an acre. This will
45:08produce a very fine single malt.
45:14I would love to be able to give you a glass
45:16to your viewers so you could try it
45:18and they could make their own mind up.
45:20I like whiskey.
45:26All the hard work, all the effort
45:28is worth it because at the end of the day
45:30we can sit down
45:32and pour ourselves a dram
45:34from the Isle of Lewis.
45:38Sláinte.
45:44Sláinte.
45:50Back on Robert
45:52and Laura's farm in Essex,
45:54the weather might have interrupted lifting
45:56potatoes, but there's no
45:58stopping production.
46:00And some of them, these ones, are used
46:02to produce the farm's crunchy sideline,
46:04crisps.
46:08Along with selling whole spuds,
46:10Robert's been producing crisps here since
46:122006.
46:14How did the crisp making start?
46:16Really it was something that the
46:18farming business wanted to get into to give
46:20some stability to the
46:22potatoes that we were growing.
46:24We were in a position where the markets
46:26and the vagaries of the markets were quite unstable
46:28and we wanted to create our own
46:30market for our produce that we could
46:32rely on and could give the farm a fair
46:34income. There are obviously
46:36high upfront costs, as we discussed, to growing
46:38potatoes. There are risks. So how
46:40does the crisp sort of, does it even that
46:42out? Does it help you as a business?
46:44I think what the crisp business does for us
46:46is it reduces the risk. When you look
46:48at the production costs of the crisps,
46:50they too vary as well. We have hikes
46:52in energy prices, we have hikes
46:54in oil, the cost of growing the potatoes
46:56and all the raw materials, they're constantly
46:58going up. But I think being in control
47:00end to end, from the start to the
47:02finish, we're in the most control of
47:04those costs that we possibly can be.
47:06And whilst they go up and down, we haven't
47:08people in the middle who we're relying on.
47:10Now it's a big part of what you do?
47:12Yes, a massive part of what we do.
47:1450% of the potatoes are grown for our
47:16own crisping and the other 50% are grown
47:18for our own fresh packing
47:20operation as well. So we're kind of self-contained
47:22now.
47:24And the farm's self-sufficiency ensures
47:26there's always a potato ready for
47:28washing and dropping in the fryer.
47:30Or in this case, 400 kilograms
47:32of them. Wow, this is
47:34amazing. So this is the start of the process?
47:36This is the start of the line.
47:38From here, they're elevated up to the top
47:40and we weigh out one batch
47:42which is about 90 to 100 kilos
47:44and they're dropped into this
47:46slicer now which is slicing
47:48the potatoes into the fryer.
47:50Wow, look at that.
47:52That's amazing.
47:54And this is stirring the crisps up so they don't
47:56all stick together. This holds 3 to
47:584,000 litres of
48:00Brexit oil. And how hot is this?
48:02They're cooking it around about
48:04150 degrees in.
48:06They'll be cooked in this batch for about
48:088 minutes roughly. So what I like standing
48:10here is I can see potatoes
48:12and I can see crisps.
48:14And it all happens in this one section?
48:16All in a few minutes, yeah.
48:18Amazing.
48:20Heading around a
48:22rollercoaster of conveyors,
48:24the crisps are given a quality control check
48:26by the optical sorter.
48:30So this is quite a clever bit of kit this is.
48:32It's using a series
48:34of cameras that identifies any
48:36bad crisps and then uses air
48:38to blow them out. And that's
48:40what I can hear, chip, chip, chip.
48:42They're little jets of air and then that is
48:44a crisp being blown out.
48:46There aren't too many coming out here.
48:48If you've got a good crop of potatoes
48:50there shouldn't be too much coming out of here.
48:52These are good crisps which are then
48:54on their way to be flavoured.
49:02And so the flavouring
49:04happens in a little tumbler?
49:06Yeah, so there's a curtain of flavour
49:08that's being applied to that tumbler
49:10and so once the flavour has
49:12been applied it then comes down
49:14this vibe tray and falls onto
49:16this weigh head. It is captivating
49:18to look down there and see that
49:20all come together into one bag
49:22and it's gone. And so that's making a bag
49:24a second almost, isn't it? It is, yeah.
49:28Once the crisps are flavoured, weighed and bagged
49:30they're boxed for distribution
49:32completing the whole process from potato
49:34to package in a little under
49:3615 minutes.
49:38With potatoes harvested from early summer
49:40into autumn, how difficult is it
49:42to produce crisps all year round?
49:44Tash Jones is the
49:46farm's commercial director.
49:48So over here we have Lady Claire
49:50which is the one that we can
49:52use for most of the year.
49:54They're really good for storage, they can stick
49:56around for months and months.
49:58Here we've got Lady Rosetta, it's the first one
50:00out of the ground. We use it between July and
50:02September and here
50:04we have Taurus.
50:06And we use that in the middle of the
50:08year between Rosetta and Lady
50:10Claire. It's just practical
50:12crisp making then, you need to keep
50:14a supply of potatoes around the year. And these make
50:16amazing crisps but they're terrible for storing.
50:18So we can't have them all year round
50:20which is why we need the other varieties as well.
50:22Now the big question is can you
50:24tell the difference in taste
50:26alone? Okay, so Lady Claire.
50:28Mmm.
50:30So these have a good crunch to them.
50:32They do have a good crunch. Really crunchy crisps
50:34is the Lady Claire. Okay, excellent.
50:36Rosetta.
50:40Good texture, really
50:42firm, crunchy.
50:44It feels softer in the mouth and it sort of
50:46almost melts a bit more than that one.
50:48That one's a bit more robust. Yeah.
50:50Finally the Taurus.
50:53It's got a
50:55sharper snap and a really lovely
50:57potato taste that sort of lingers a bit after.
50:59Yes, that I am getting actually.
51:01An aftertaste of potato there. Okay.
51:03In terms of scale, just how many crisps do you produce here
51:05and where do they end up? Well we can
51:07make up to 300,000
51:09packs of crisps a day here. Okay.
51:11So quite a lot of crisps.
51:13They go to the farm shop
51:15down the road, they go to the pub down the road
51:17but they can get as far as Hong Kong
51:19with some of our distributors so they truly
51:21can be found all over the world.
51:23This local product
51:25with a global reach is helping
51:27this Essex farm to manage
51:29challenging economics and the
51:31increasingly unpredictable weather
51:33affecting farmers at harvest time.
51:39Diversification for
51:41farmers can mean more revenue streams
51:43and sometimes you have to think outside
51:45the box as Margarita found out
51:47back in 2018.
51:51Autumn
51:53in Herefordshire.
51:55A county with more
51:57orchards than any other.
51:59At every turn
52:01the trees hang heavy with
52:03fruit.
52:05But traditional orchards
52:07like this are disappearing.
52:11Many are just too small to
52:13make money and changing tastes
52:15means older varieties are falling out
52:17of favour. But there's one brew
52:19that could change that and it's
52:21not cider, it's this
52:23Verjuice.
52:29To tell me more about this magic
52:31potion is Lawrence Green
52:33an apple expert.
52:37Lawrence, what
52:39is Verjuice?
52:41Verjuice is juice made from
52:43unripe apples. Traditionally
52:45it was made with grapes
52:47but it's been around since Roman times.
52:49In the Middle Ages
52:51crab apples were used
52:53and the juice obtained highly
52:55prized in the cuisine of the time.
52:57So is Verjuice a game
52:59changer for orchards like these?
53:01Yeah, we really hope so because
53:03it's just not commercially viable
53:05to harvest orchards like these
53:07so really Verjuice gives
53:09us a way of using fruit and harvesting
53:11a whole orchard in a hit and making
53:13a product which really has value.
53:15And what apples make the best
53:17Verjuice? So what we're looking for
53:19is an apple which is really acidic
53:21they need to be under ripe
53:23not too sweet, this would be a great
53:25example. So these are ready to go?
53:27These are just about perfect.
53:29Would you like to try one?
53:31What do they taste like?
53:33Okay. Not like vinegar
53:37but it should get the slivery glands going at the back
53:39of your mouth.
53:41I think my eyes are watering.
53:43You get accustomed to it.
53:51Lawrence is part
53:53of Orchard Origins
53:55a group dedicated to saving
53:57traditional orchards.
53:59It's also helping people with learning
54:01difficulties and mental health
54:03problems.
54:05Martin Dickinson has been volunteering
54:07for nine years.
54:09He's going to give me some tips.
54:11If you weren't coming here and getting involved
54:13in the harvest and the
54:15maintenance of the orchard, how do you feel
54:17your life might be different?
54:19It's changed a lot. I feel that I've done something
54:21and I've achieved something
54:23which is really
54:25challenging for me.
54:27So nine years, are you going to keep going?
54:29Oh, I shall keep going
54:31until, you know
54:33until I drop down.
54:35Shall we see if we've got a
54:37crateful?
54:39Yep, okay.
54:45Lynn Taylor also volunteers.
54:47She feels the benefits of being
54:49here too.
54:53Lynn, it seems so peaceful being here.
54:55It certainly is. It's so lovely.
54:57All you can hear are birds most of the time.
54:59Very peaceful, very quiet.
55:01And what drew you to it to begin with?
55:03I was really sort of suffering quite badly
55:05from severe panic attacks, depression
55:07and also I
55:09desperately wouldn't go out
55:11anywhere. I needed the company
55:13and so I heard about Orchard Origins
55:15and I found out that I could volunteer
55:17and here I am.
55:19It's given me a lot of confidence back
55:21which I'd lost before.
55:33Hi, Lawrence.
55:35Hi, Margarita.
55:37Apples have been picked.
55:39Excellent.
55:41How do we make verjuice?
55:43Well, the first stage is we need to scrap the apples
55:45which means we need to mash them into little bits
55:47which makes pressing easier.
55:49So I get spinning, you get tipping.
55:51Okay, so just straight in?
55:53Absolutely.
55:55Tip slowly.
55:57Woo!
56:09Can't wait to try this.
56:11Sounds like someone's just turned the tap there.
56:13Well, you are.
56:15That's about as fresh as it gets,
56:17isn't it?
56:19Here goes.
56:21Absolutely. Cheers.
56:23Cheers.
56:27That's so much sweeter already.
56:29Absolutely. But it still has that sharpness.
56:31It still has the sharpness
56:33and it's got that real fruitiness and flavour.
56:35Because we use this as a
56:37souring ingredient in sauces,
56:39I'd want that even to be a bit sharper.
56:41Well, that's a real treat.
56:51Maybe, just maybe, verjuice
56:53could give these old orchards a new lease of life.
56:58Definitely better as a liquid.
57:06Harvesting may be the end of a cycle
57:08and might not always go to plan
57:10but here in Essex the hard work
57:12is not over for potato farmers
57:14Robert and Laura Strathern.
57:16Well, it's been lovely to be with you on the farm today
57:18to almost see the harvest
57:20but what is next?
57:22So after we finish lifting spuds
57:24we've got to get all those fields drilled with winter wheat
57:27and then after that, that's the bulk of the autumn work completed
57:29which we're looking forward to, hopefully.
57:31And then in the winter time
57:33there's filling of reservoirs
57:35and maintaining machines and getting them ready
57:37for the onset in the following spring.
57:39Gosh, it never stops, does it, Laura?
57:41Never stops.
57:43Well, look, we are still getting the harvest in here on Countryfile as well.
57:45Please join us next week when Charlotte and Matt
57:47will be one county over in Cambridgeshire
57:49helping to bring in a very rare crop.
57:53This is incredible.
57:55I can assure you, you had a bit of somebody else's field.
57:57Yeah.
57:59And look at this. How many acres is it?
58:01485.
58:03Hello.
58:05Hello.
58:07Hello.
58:09Hello.
58:11Trying to find his son.
58:13This is great.
58:15Yeah, that's pretty good, isn't it?
58:17See, you're expecting sweetcorn, aren't you?
58:19But it's not. It's sort of...
58:21Nuttier.
58:23We hope you can join us then.
58:25Bye-bye.
58:27Now, these crisps...
58:53¶¶