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Page Updated: February 18, 2010
Strawberry Enterprise / Growing and Picking
We currently grow 82 acres (33.20
ha) of strawberries on raised plastic beds all covered under Spanish
poly-tunnel covering. The use of tunnels ensures better quality fruit,
less disease and damage. Also significant reduction in the use of
pesticides to ensure 1st class fruit from May thru' to October.
The areas and harvesting
including tonnage per acre:
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Area
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Area
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Tonnage per acre
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Start picking
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Duration of picking
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Crop / variety
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8.09 ha
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20 acres
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10 tonnes
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10th May
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6 weeks
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Elsanta early
covered
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8.09 ha
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20 acres
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8 tonnes
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10th June
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5 weeks
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Main crop
Elsanta,
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6.88 ha
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17 acres
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6 tonnes
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5th July
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4/5 weeks
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Elsanta 60 day
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10.12 ha
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25 acres
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12 tonnes
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early July
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to the end Oct
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EverestAutumn
fruiters
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To build on our Strawberry enterprise
and to be able to serve the Supermarkets continuously is of prime
importance. We started growing Everbearers, firstly Evita
which we grew 1/3rd of an acre and then with trials of Everest and
Everglade. The Everest was by far the highest yielding
variety of Class I fruit, so we continue to grow this variety today,
research is continuous for finding another variety to match/replace Everest.
All our fruit is covered including the
Autumn production to give rain protection and prolonged harvesting.
Fumigation & Inventions
Controlled
fumigation of the raised beds (prepared in the Autumn) by a registered
company; K & S Fumigation ensures the control of Verticillium
wilt and other weed control.
The on going husbandry areas of the soft
fruit production, has been aided by a poly tunnel "leg-borer"
( to insert the tunnel legs into the ground during tunnel erection) and
the mobile fruit cage's to transport empty trays down and full trays back
from the field picking areas, both pieces of machinery created by Phillip
during the winter months.
Packing and Delivering
Once the fruit has been carefully picked
and transported to the packhouse, it is quickly brought down to
temperature in the high humidity rapid chill store, then it is packed in
the controlled environment of the pack house area with the appropriate
punnets and computer printed labels, kept chilled and then delivered to
the Tesco distribution warehouse, mainly the Hinckley,
Leicestershire depot and Doncaster in South Yorkshire in our own refrigerated
lorries.
Whereas John and Robert manage the field
area Phillip is Packhouse Manager. His day is filled with collating the
orders from our Grower group Berryworld, checking fruit in,
ensuring correct packaging and labels and employment of staff, including
staff training, filling in the numerous amounts of paperwork and checking
the fruit out into the lorry and occasionally delivering as well.
Some of the work is also delegated to
his pack house supervisor/s this ensures the operation runs extremely
well and we have an ongoing assessment from the Tesco's Quality
Assurance inspector at 99%.
Busby Partners Ltd are inspected by CMi
Technical Standards that encompasses all of the requirements of the
British Retail Consortium (BRC) Technical Standard for Companies
Supplying Retailer Branded Rood Products and have achieved the
"Higher Level" in 2002 and through to 2008
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