STRAWBERRY PICKING STARTS
They went out on Friday (May 19) at the family-owned Sharnfold farm at Stone Cross, near Eastbourne.
It is among the first pick-your-own strawberry growers in Britain to have fruit ready for picking, despite a very cold spring that delayed the crop's development.
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Hide Ad"Although it's been a very late season, we're in one of the sunniest parts of the country, and we grow the strawberries in plastic polytunnels, which trap the sun's rays even more," says farmer Dennis Hilsdon. "We had pickers out this morning filling punnets with ripe fruit, and we should be ready for pick-your-own for the Bank Holiday, at least four weeks earlier than most."
Sharnfold Farm is located on the B2014 (Hailsham Road) at Stone Cross, three miles north of Eastbourne. For more details, please call 01323 768490 or visit www.stone-cross-nurseries.co.uk