++++ early east Kent harvest news +++++

Pears - there was real concern at a lack of bloom but it's looking good now.
Apples - very promising, though too much bloom is as bad as too little.
Cherries - could be good, could be very, very good.

It's the latter that interests me - a bumper crop gives me the opportunity to nick in early and grab a half tonne of lower grade fruit, pop it in some oak casks with a mild wheat beer and seal it up to mature for 6 or 8 months. This time next year we could be cracking bottles of deliciously sparkling Kentish Kriek.

That's the sunny outlook, of course the crop could be devastated by storms overnight and we get nothing. Such is a life living off the land.