A busy, but very enjoyable week for The English Apple Man
Wednesday was the busiest day, with a visit to East Malling Research Station at 9.30am to catch up with the harvesting of the Conference Pears in the Sainsburys Concept Pear Orchard. At 2pm a visit to Alex Charrington's Cryals Farm at Matfield in West Kent to see ZARI being picked and at 5.30pm The Gala Club annual workshop at Giles Cannon's Roughways Farm at Plaxtol, also in West Kent.
My visit on Wednesday to Alex Charrington's Cryals Farm at Matfield in Kent, was a follow up to previous visits during August. I was anxious to view the start of Zari picking as harvest got under way. The colour and eating quality is superb and any consumer purchasing Zari over the next few weeks should be delighted with the visual attributes and eating quality of their fruit.
This variety is licensed to A. C. Goatham & Sons who recognised the potential of this variety on a visit to Belgium several years ago. Zari is a cross between Elstar and Delbard Estivale.
Clive Goatham said it is easily the best apple he has eaten and is confident it will quickly become an established part of the UK varietal portfolio. The Zari season starts in late August and the variety will retain its texture and flavour in cold store for a couple of months. Storage research in Belgium suggests Zari can be kept in more sophisticated storage until January.
The 64,000 dollar question is, will Zari become an early season 'niche' variety, or can it become a major player replacing current mainstream varieties; maybe even challenging the current consumer favourite Gala which holds a 25% share of all the apples sold in the UK.
Clive has staked a lot on the success of Zari since the first planting at his Stallance Farm in Sutton Valence in Kent in 2008 and he has encouraged 6 other growers to join his 'Zari bandwagon' resulting in 30 hectares planted between 2008 and 2011. Plans for a further 5 hectares per year over the next 5 years will result in 55+ hectares by 2016.
The anticipated yield profile for ZARI is 12 tonnes per hectare in year 2, with 25 tonnes in year 3 and 45 tonnes in year 4. Nigel Stewart, Technical Manager for A.C.Goatham outlines further advantages being: Lack of competition from other main stream varieties; No sophisticated CA (Controlled Atmosphere) storage costs, while bins can be turned around for use with other varieties (possibly Gala and Braeburn)
The week before last, as reported in the EAM Journal for 26th August, I joined a small group on a visit to Pepinierres du Valois in the Picardy region of France for a fact finding tour of Nurseries, Trial plots and Production orchards. Of particular interest was the new variety Galmac, which has been proposed as an option for replacing Discovery as the first apple of our UK season.
While Galmac clearly matures much earlier in France than back home, it is more in tune with the Worcester Pearmain season in England than Discovery.
Planting of Galmac in the England is still modest, but numbers are mounting as growers with an eye for an early season option 'place their bets'
It is in The English Apple Man's opinion in direct competition with Zari. Only time will tell which variety will secure the early season 'podium' position!
Fruit wall
As mentioned, its been a busy few days; on Tuesday I popped into Brogdale for a sandwich & coffee and while there, had the good fortune to touch base with Tim Biddlecombe MD of FAST the leading independent advisory company for UK fruit growers.
Tim showed me some of the innovative work FAST are doing in their trial plots. Of particular interest to me was the 'Fruit Wall' trials. EAM readers will be familiar with my interest in Fruit Walls during my visit to The Loire Valley in February.
Tim has set up Fruit Walls for the obvious varieties, Gala and Breaburn; both are already familiar as fruit walls on the continent. Tim has also tried using a fruit wall system with Cox, an unlikely candidate due to its inability to flower and crop on one year old wood. But the result in the trail plots is much more encouraging than I would have believed possible.
The Fruit Wall system is not on many growers list of future plans, but if we are to fulfill maximum yield potential AND contain labour input, it is difficult to see how this system can be ignored as nothing else appears to offer the answer to apple & pear production meeting the challenge of higher production while containing costs and utilising a reducing labour force.
Ironically this was to be reinforced as on my way home I stopped in Tenterden and by sheer coincidence, bumped into an old apple grower friend. Chatting about the 'status quo' he told me he is fed up with the demands of Supermarkets and the changing enthusiasm of his Eastern European pickers. The availability of workers at an affordable cost is an increasing problem, gone are the days when Eastern European students would beat a path to his door!
Sainsbury's Concept Pear Orchard
It seems like only yesterday that the first pick of the concept orchard took place. Now a year on the second pick was in full flow when I visited on Wednesday morning. I was invited by Francis Wheatley of Chingford Fruit Packers who are partners in the Concept Orchard with Sainsbury and East Malling.
There are three different tree systems and all look promising; the V system is the most visually pleasing with the fruit hanging free from the branches. This reduces the probability of 'scuffing' from leaves and branches in windy conditions. The V system is the EAM's personal favourite.
The high cost of establishment is a concern for many pear growers; the view is the cost of The Concept Orchard is too high for yields and prices in the UK to deliver a positive return, but surely the significance of this venture is to find answers to the many challenges we face in our climate of 'matching' the profitable yield in Belgium and Holland; many on exactly the same establishment format as The Concept Orchard.
Grand Prix Racing and Space Exploration can surely be perceived as uneconomic, but the technological 'know how' which 'filters down' to other product development is invaluable. The same may well be said of The Concept Orchard in the years ahead!
One of the scientific experiments taking place is the efficacy of irrigation use. Pears by nature thrive on soil with a high water table, finding the optimum irrigation requirements of the pears in our climate is of huge importance, especially as water is a finite resource and irrigation efficiency will be critical in future food production.
The two pictures below are also from The Concept Orchard.
GALA CLUB
On Wednesday evening the annual 'get together' of Gala Growers took place at Giles Cannon's Roughway Farm at Plaxtol in West Kent.
This was a most enjoyable and informative meeting. With so much information I will leave a full report until next week's Journal on 9th September.
That is all until next week!
Take care
The English Apple Man