June 2007“Flaming June”… Remember those long, warm, sunny days in the summer...? Well, not this summer so far. It is easy to forget that the first half of June was with a fine and warm start, although lacking notable hot days or prolonged sunny periods. The rains did not start until the 12th or 13th, but most parts of the country have had some rain, little or much, on every single day since then. Some regions of the country received 300-400% above average rainfall for the month, setting their wettest June on record. Sunshine was generally below average across the UK, with some areas having their dullest June on record. This weather did not reflect very well on the crop and because of the very heavy rains we have lost about 30% of our cherry production due to splitting. The dull weather has also delayed the development of our everbearer strawberry varieties- at present our production is a week behind. But on the other hand the apples and the pears are growing well, with both- a good crop load and sizing, as they have taken up a lot of water. Slowly but surely we have begun the cherry picking, varieties like Summit and Sylvia are already on the shop shelf. We have also finished our early main crop of Elsanta strawberries. Thinning of plum crop was completed in June, and apple thinning begun at the end June and will continue into July.
