STRAWBERRY PICKING STARTS

An East Sussex farm has brought an early taste of summer to the county with strawberry pickers taking to the field for the first time this season.

By The Newsroom

Published 23rd May 2006, 18:25 BST

Updated 7th Jun 2018, 22:42 BST

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.

"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