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British melons
United Kingdom
Monday 01 October 2007
The success that farmers have had growing melons in Kent will come as little surprise to those who are already enjoying other exotic British-grown fruit, including apricots, also grown in Kent, and blueberries from Dorset.
Paul Mansfield, 47, of Newplace Farm near Ickham, Kent, is the first farmer in the UK to grow the Charentais variety of melon: “I used to grow melons with my father in our garden, so I jumped at the chance to do it again.”
Although melons are more typically cultivated in the hotter climates of Spain, Mexico, Israel and Brazil, the mild climate of Kent has proven ripe for the Charentais variety. "The crop would have benefitted from more sun this summer," says Mansfield, who also grows other soft fruits, but he is "still learning" and even has plans "to extend the season" in order to supply bigger and better melons (the UK varieties are smaller than those grown overseas).
The sweet, orange-fleshed melons are being sold in 20 Marks & Spencer stores in the South-East and London as part of the company's commitment to developing new varieties of fruit and vegetables, including British-grown cherries and apricots, hereby reducing the need to import exotic fruit. There is a vast gulf between the 5,550 food miles that a Mexican melon travels to reach Britain, and the short journey from Kent that one of Mansfield's melons makes to the supermarket.
“People are increasingly interested in British produce,” says Mansfield, who serves home-grown melon with fresh mint at his family table. In the name of traceability, it is customary now for many supemarkets to put the farmer's name on the product label. Mansfield's name will appear on the Melon labels in 2008.
The melon plants are pollinated naturally by bees and grown in pots in a glasshouse, until the ground is free of frost when they are transplanted under cover, before harvesting in September.
Paul Mansfield, 47, of Newplace Farm near Ickham, Kent, is the first farmer in the UK to grow the Charentais variety of melon: “I used to grow melons with my father in our garden, so I jumped at the chance to do it again.”
Although melons are more typically cultivated in the hotter climates of Spain, Mexico, Israel and Brazil, the mild climate of Kent has proven ripe for the Charentais variety. "The crop would have benefitted from more sun this summer," says Mansfield, who also grows other soft fruits, but he is "still learning" and even has plans "to extend the season" in order to supply bigger and better melons (the UK varieties are smaller than those grown overseas).
The sweet, orange-fleshed melons are being sold in 20 Marks & Spencer stores in the South-East and London as part of the company's commitment to developing new varieties of fruit and vegetables, including British-grown cherries and apricots, hereby reducing the need to import exotic fruit. There is a vast gulf between the 5,550 food miles that a Mexican melon travels to reach Britain, and the short journey from Kent that one of Mansfield's melons makes to the supermarket.
“People are increasingly interested in British produce,” says Mansfield, who serves home-grown melon with fresh mint at his family table. In the name of traceability, it is customary now for many supemarkets to put the farmer's name on the product label. Mansfield's name will appear on the Melon labels in 2008.
The melon plants are pollinated naturally by bees and grown in pots in a glasshouse, until the ground is free of frost when they are transplanted under cover, before harvesting in September.
