The English Empire

Some of the finest fruit in the world is grown in English orchards and you can get your hands on some of the tastiest apples- sweet or sharp, crunchy or light-textured flesh, red, green yellow and anything in between- just take your pick. One exciting variety we grow in our orchards is the English Empire and Paul Mansfield was the first to plant Empire apple trees in this country in 1998 on a small plot of 2 acres at Middle Pett Farm, near Canterbury. Empire is North American bred variety, cross between Red Delicious and McIntosh, it was first referenced in 1945 but was officially introduced to the world in 1966, after over two decades of careful evaluation. The colour of the Empire is deep maroon-red, over a light green background, with a very crisp, creamy white flesh, and very distinctive flavour with delicious hint of melon or pineapple or elderflower, sometimes even described as “vinous”.
Growing Empire has proven a successful enterprise, the production has expanded and Mansfields have invested in 61,000 trees on 74 acres spread across five different sites, Paul is the only commercial grower of Empire in the UK, and this year our Empire production is expected to be circa 50 thousand cases, thus making Paul Mansfield the largest single man grower in the UK. The English Empire is ready to be picked in September and October, and it already available to the customers. Empire is especially loved by kids and it is great snack for their lunch boxes.

Jazzing up the English fruit trade to the core

Whether or not you are an apple lover, whether you chose more traditional or favour something new, it is almost certain that Jazz™ apple will shake your perceived conception of how an apple should taste. With its dense, full of crunch texture and unique aromatic zing flavour the English Jazz will be music to your senses.
Jazz™ is a very modern apple variety, developed in New Zealand in the mid 1980s. The variety results from a selection among a population of seedlings derived from crossing between two major apple varieties- Braeburn and Gala. It is one of the most exciting new apple varieties and it has been grown in the UK since 2004. Paul Mansfield is the largest producer of English Jazz, and has put over £1 million investment into growing the variety already. This year the first commercial crop is being picked with expected production of around 20,000 cases.
The fruit of this new apple variety has an attractive appearance characterised by its distinctive bright red colouration and is notable for its excellent eating quality post-storage. It has a superb sweet and tangy flavour, succulent and exceptionally crisp texture and clean shiny appearance- it has become a winner in numerous consumer tasting surveys. It is a late season apple, being ready to pick in early to mid October.


Did you know?

Jazz is the brand name for the variety Scifresh

Jimmy's Farm at Mansfields

Jimmy Doherty

Jimmy Doherty from the BBC documentary series “Jimmy’s Farm” filming at Nickle Farm

Crop and Weather Summary

September 2007

The quiet, dry weather of late-August continued for the first three weeks of September, becoming more unsettled by late September with rain at times, coupled with an active cold front crossing the country towards the end of the month. Much of the last week was notably cool, with winds from the northwest and north much more frequent than usual, and overall this was the seventh most 'northerly' September in 135 years of records. Mean temperatures were generally close to, or slightly above average, and rainfall was generally close to or below average
September is our main period of apple picking, causing it to be a very busy month at Mansfields- 70% of the crop is picked during September. It takes a lot of team effort and planning to ensure timely picking, transporting and storage of thousands of tonnes of fruit within a very limited time scale. The quality of the fruit is very good and the volumes are big. Also in September our last plum variety of the season, Marjorie, was picked, whilst strawberries continue to produce high volumes.