Mansfields: August 2007

Bramley- a truly British icon

We have started our early season picking of Bramley apples. England is the only country where a major distinction is made between cooking and dessert apples, but these days only one variety remains to maintain the tradition of English cooking apples - the famous Bramley apple. The Bramley apple was raised by Mary Ann Brailsford of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, UK, it is believed the first tree was planted between 1809 and 1813, and amazingly the original tree still bears fruit today.

Bramley is the cook’s favourite as it has a unique ability to retain its strong apple flavour during cooking and when cooked, the texture becomes moist, wonderfully light and airy but with individual cells preserved to provide a superb crunch. Check the following link for delicious recipes
http://www.bramleyapples.co.uk/recipes.htm

Did you know?

Kent is one of the counties where most Bramley’s are grown.

Crop and Weather Summary

July 2007

Mean temperatures were generally close to or slightly below average. Most of the showers were often very heavy and thundery with some areas experiencing localised flooding due to the intensity of the rain. The very last few days of the month brought a change in weather type with a few dry and sunny days for most places. Mid July we experienced quite a few storms with hail, causing some significant damages to our crop
Cherries are have finished, we had a good crop volumes but is was a challenging season with a lot of waste due to the wet weather.
All plums have developed a week earlier than previous season, as have all crops this year. The early plum Opal is a good sample on size, colour and sugars. Jubilium a larger fruiting plum produced a good quality crop as well.
Strawberries - new planting of Albion coming on stream with good quality and volumes. The second crop of the table tops has been planted and it is being established, the first pick is expected in mid August.
The First of the English season apple Discovery, a traditional early red dessert variety, was picked at the end of July- fantastic colour and quality.

Discovery- the English apple season has started!

Discovery, one of the most popular English early red dessert apples, is being picked at Mansfields this week. Usually the Discovery is not picked until mid and late August but again like with other crops this year it was ready a lot earlier than usual. Discovery is a small proportion of the apples varieties we grow on our farms but it gives us ahead start to the new English season. It is often thought that Discovery is an old variety but it was found in the late 1940 by a workman on an Essex fruit farm, and it is a seedling of Worcester Pearmain, a 19th century early-season apple variety, which is also grown at Mansfields. Discovery is bright red, with yellowish green backgrond colour and it has a firm, crispy texture, with a fairly sweet, refreshing flavour, sometimes with a hint of strawberry.

About Us

Located in Kent, the Garden of England, Mansfields is one of the largest growers and packers of top, stone and soft fruit with over 35 years of experience. The family run business is the biggest UK apple grower and the largest UK cherry grower, whilst also growing pears, plums and strawberries in significant volumes. Mansfields is one of the only UK top fruit operations that is expanding both fruit production and packing facilities. The company comprises of over 3,000 acres of top fruit (dessert apples, culinary apples and pears), stone fruit (cherries and plums) and soft fruit (strawberries), which are grown on 15 locations in Kent at varied geographic locations in order to extend harvest seasons and to mitigate weather related risk. The main storage and packing site is located at Nickle Farm on the outskirts of Chartham village, six miles south of Canterbury on the A28

Corporate Social Responsibility

Mansfields seeks to recognise our responsibilities to our suppliers, customers, and staff and the way we impact on our social and physical environment. We have adopted a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy (CSR) to position ourselves as a leading company in the provision of English fruit that meets the very high social and environmental expectations of our customers. Our CSR strategy details our visions, governance, structure and management systems and our key targets and objectives. We have set objectives and targets against our key environmental, social and economic priorities.