Today; Friday 5th February, The English Apple Man spent the day at the annual pruning event at Hadlow College
For the last three years experts in the skill of pruning have given a day of their time to instruct students at Hadlow College in the theory and practice of pruning apple trees. The Huxley & BIFGA orchards are an ideal medium for this event.
The BIFGA and Huxley training orchards at the Court Lane unit at Hadlow were created to assist in the education of Hadlow students; the Huxley 1 orchard planted in the spring of 2010 and joined by Huxley 2 at Pershore and Huxley 3 at Hadlow in 2012 has been valuable learning medium for students at both colleges. The BIFGA 21 orchards at Hadlow & Brogdale were primarily intended to trial new varieties, however, the BIFGA 21 orchard at Hadlow has been a valuable asset for Hadlow students and for local schools taking part in the Pip to Plate event held in September 2013, 2104, & 2015.
The Pruning Day started with a 'theory session' in the classroom from Nigel Stewart followed by practical instruction on pruning in the BIFGA and Huxley 1 orchards; Instructors Roger Worraker, Malcolm Withnall, Brian Thompsett and Jim Harlow
Below: Malcolm Withnall - and - Brian Thompsett
The English Apple Man will report fully on the Hadlow College Pruning Day in next week's Journal.
In this week's Journal; more from last week's 28th BIFGA Technical Day.
Below: Caroline Pomarede
At The National Fruit Show in October 2015 The English Apple Man met Caroline Pomarede who represents JANNY MT.
Janny MTCA was established in 2013 in Canada as a division of the French company Janny MT. Janny MT was established in 2009 by Mr. Pierre Janny after 15 years of Research and Development on static controlled atmosphere technology with technical research centres in France. The company currently holds a patent on the sealing of the module in 80 countries, making Janny MT the only company providing and distributing this unique storage equipment in the world. The Janny MT CA technology has been tested and tried with producers over many years before being finalized.
Seven years ago, Janny MT developed a system in order to satisfy this demand from fruit and vegetable producers, at a competitive price, called Tiempo Cap. By adapting to a standard industrial box (bulk bin) the Tiempo Cap brings equivalent results to Controlled Atmosphere (CA) in the 610 litre units that can be stored in classic cold rooms. This process is used for a wide range of fruits (apples, cherries, plums, kiwis, pears, currants of vegetables - asparagus, leeks, lamb's lettuces, broad beans, of flowers - roses, tulips and mushrooms - chanterelles.
Below: A slide from Caroline's presentation demonstrating some of the products stored in Janny MT units
Janny MT offer new equipment for the preservation, processing, storage and transport of a wide range of products in the Food Industry. This equipment is composed of independent units with an integrated hermetic closing system. Each unit is composed of an innovative lid and an industrial plastic bulk container, complete with 6 available ports each with a membrane which, allows Oxygen to enter the bin, while allowing C02 to escape.
Below: This slide gives an overview of the Janny MT CA system
Janny MT CA (Controlled Atmosphere)
This technology can increase the storage period of fruit, flowers or vegetables - Thanks to the fruits' respiration and the passive permeation of the gases through the membranes, the Janny MT cover creates a suitable atmosphere capable of responding to the storage needs of the chosen product - with the revolutionary Janny MT cover, a traditional refrigerated storage plant can be transformed into a controlled atmosphere facility!
Each variety has its own storage characteristics; Gala is easy - with only one port open, other varieties may need more ports open; in some cases a small bag of lime placed inside the bin to adsorb excess C02.
Below: One of the 'ports' with the membrane visible - and - the membrane which allows Oxygen in and C02 out
Below: an internal view of the port and hermetic seal - and - the novel Janny MT gas sampler for monitoring O2 & C02 levels within the container
Below: This slide summarizes the achievable goals for producers using the Janny MT CA system
Below: This slide demonstrates the cost/benefit of Janny MT CA system
The English Apple Man comments
Apple storage is becoming increasingly sophisticated with DCA (Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere) now the rapidly developing regime for 'long term' large scale storage; I first met Caroline Pomarede at The National Fruit Show on the Janny MT Stand - during my conversation with Caroline I gained the impression that the Janny MT system was designed for small scale storage operations - farm shops for example......
However, during Caroline's presentation at the BIFGA Technical Day, 'the Penny Dropped' and the concept became a lot clearer to me; while the system allows small producers the ability to mix different products in the same cold store, it is far from a small operator 'only' system, with large produce businesses in many countries capitalizing on the flexible nature of the individual storage units. The great advantage - one cold store can become a multi use Controlled Atmosphere store.......'clever'........
............................................................................................................................................................
Sarah Calcutt - Social Media
Sarah uses social media as a tool for reaching potential customers more effectively than any other medium; Sarah told delegates at The BIFGA Technical day the use of Twitter, Facebook and other mediums are so much faster and massively cheaper than the traditional PR and Advertising methods.
While it is true not all 'tweets' will be read, those that are, spread the knowledge of your business in quickly and inexpensively.
As an organisation - IS BIFGA effective in communicating on Social Media? - WHO is listening? - WHAT are you saying? - Can they HEAR you?
Sarah said; In my personal opinion - YOU cannot afford to ignore social media - YOU really need to share your knowledge - YOU really need to engage - GET OUT THERE!
WHAT IS IT?
Sarah said; WHY do I invest (engage) in Social Media? - Extending your networking reach - Nurture new and existing business relationships - Gain credibility by showing your expertise - Accelerate your marketing, with a difference - Gauge what your customers are saying about your business - Effectively use the relevant social networks
HOW might this work for YOU?
It ISN'T time consuming - It DOES pay dividends - Look at what your competitors do....are they getting more coverage - YOU are experts in your field, make a good shop window, be available, engage with your customers and consumers - DONT compete against each other, work together, have a strong message, stick to it and improve the lot for the whole British fruit industry!
For anyone seeking help in improving their Social Media skills - Sarah Calcutt's 'Partners in Produce' would be a good place to start!
Yesterday....
In town shopping, I popped into M&S and noticed UK ENVY on display; the variety is one of my favourites, so purchased a 'four pack' @ £2. Later in Sainsburys while inspecting the apples & pears on display, I spied UK Empire @ £1 for a pack of 5 apples. By coincidence (I did not take note at the time) both packs were grown by Paul Mansfield...........in East Kent......
Below: left ENVY - and - right - EMPIRE
Below: English grown ENVY and EMPIRE with Cheddar and Brie
And after our main course tonight (a very healthy salad) my wife and I (sounds almost Royal) enjoyed half an ENVY and half an EMPIRE each with Cheddar and Brie (sorry French Brie) while I preferred the ENVY - 'more flavour' - my wife preferred the EMPIRE - 'crisper' - both excellent value - Envy @ £2 x 4 @ M&S and Empire @ £1 x 5 @ Sainsburys
Yesterday the sunset over the sea at Hastings was particularly beautiful - the picture below taken from my front doorstep.......
That is all for this week - next week a full account of the HADLOW PRUNING DAY.....
Take care
The English Apple Man