Tag Archives: Barfoots

BBC Harvest series to return

The BBC has announced that its popular Harvest programme will return this month with a three-part series hosted by Gregg Wallace, Philippa Forrester and new presenter, dairy farmer James Manning.

According to the broadcaster, each episode will focus on three different locations in the UK. The team will follow this critical time of year as the nation’s farmers find out whether their efforts have resulted in a successful yield, showing the impact that harvest can have on the food industry and everyday consumers. Among the producers featured in the new series are Thatcher’s cider in Somerset and Sussex-based sweetcorn grower Peter Barfoot.

28 year old North Herefordshire dairy farmer James commented, “For me, harvest is the time of year when all your hard work as a farmer pays off. All the ups and downs, the long nights and early mornings have all been working up to this moment. The best bit about filming for me has been meeting other farms, seeing the pride and pleasure they get at this time of year. It’s been fantastic to see British farmers trying new things and innovating the way they work to farm smarter, bigger and better than the year before.”

Waitrose moves to 100% UK sweetcorn

West Sussex based Barfoots has begun harvesting the English sweetcorn crop and the weather has helped supermarket Waitrose which is preparing to stock 100 per cent fresh British sweetcorn over the next couple of months.

Workers at Sefter Farm near Bognor Regis began harvesting the first of the crop at the end of July. Despite the weekend’s rainy weather, the glorious temperatures in June made for perfect growing conditions, resulting in a bumper crop of British sweetcorn.

Patrick Keane, Waitrose buyer commented, “All eyes are on South America this summer when it comes to food, home to some of the tastiest sweetcorn recipes, but with our own sweetcorn tasting this good, Bognor is giving Brazil a run for its money! Sweetcorn is robust enough to cook on the barbecue and makes great finger food, which is what the summer dining is all about.”

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Barfoots create specialised chilli greenhouse

Barfoots is one of a number of growers which is now helping Sainsbury’s stock 100 per cent British chillies.

This is thanks to the Chichester grower’s new investment in producing the crop in a dedicated greenhouse which utilises a range of sustainable technologies to extend the British chilli season from four to seven months.

Thomas Lapraik, who joined the Barfoots team in the autumn of last year to manage the cultivation explains, “Location, as ever, is key. We’re on the Chichester peninsular within a stone’s throw of the coast, so the greenhouse utilises the best natural light levels in the UK. To support this natural sunshine, we’ve introduced hi-tech environmentally-efficient heating controls and modern low-impact growing systems. We plan to achieve seven months of supply from this glasshouse which breaks all previous records for chilli production in the UK.”

Outside of the British season, Barfoots has been farming chillies under protective growing structures for Sainsbury’s at their award-winning farm in Senegal since 2010. “Senegal has really been a game-changer in terms of the quality of imported chillies into the UK market,” adds Harry Wilder, Barfoots international agronomist.

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