Farm gives Somerfield a runner for its money

Top Barn Farm, at Holt Heath, has won a contract to supply early season beans to the Somerfield chain as part of its campaign to stock more home-produced produce.

It's another notch on the success stick of the Harpers, one of the most forward-looking farming families in the Midlands.

Historically, their farm has grown cereals and root crops and produced livestock, but they always have an eye to diversify and are constantly looking at new opportunities to compliment their traditional farming enterprise.

Aware of a gap in the market for early season English beans, Top Barn took full advantage.

The farm's fortunate location means that it avoids some of the Gulf Stream effects due to the River Severn and the light soil ensures growth of early season beans that are the finest quality British produce.

Worcestershire is traditionally an area of bean production, so runner beans are readily available and fresh throughout the summer months. They are also consumed in large quantities!

"This summer we've put down 30 acres to beans," said farm manager John Harper, "which is about three times the amount we've had before.

"They should be ready to start picking in the next few weeks."

John's father David bought Top Barn in the mid-1960s and, since then, it's gone from strength to strength.

All three of the Harper sons - John, Mike and Richard - are involved in the Top Barn project in some way and the farm itself has two full-time employees and around 40 seasonal pickers, mostly students.

One of the reasons for its great local success could be the Harper's personal involvement in local life.

The family has always felt privileged to be able to enjoy the beauty of the Worcestershire countryside and strongly feel the need to put something back into their community.

They happily open Top Barn Farm for frequent Church meetings, Christian groups and other smaller gatherings.

The Harpers have had to overcome major challenges on their path to success, including the construction of a new packhouse, learning to grow new types of vegetables, such as squash, pumpkins and courgettes, and managing to scale up from small production to 10 times its original size.

We just love those pomme d'amour

THE love apple - sweet, succulent and juicy. It's no wonder the French called tomatoes "pommes d'amour" or "love apples".

Tomatoes are just as highly regarded in Britain. They are the fourth most popular fruit eaten in this country and, thanks to tasting panels created by growers, ever more varieties are going on sale to meet consumer demands.

The tomato is thought to have originated on the western slops of the Andes mountains in Peru, where a number of varieties still grow wild.

The tomato plant spreads to Central America and Mexico, probably as a weed mixed with maize and rye seeds. It was here that it was first cultivated in about 700AD.

An Aztec dish of tomatoes with chillies and squash seeds may be the world's earliest salsa recipe.

The tomato was brought back to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors and was probably a yellow skinned variety as they were referred to as golden apples. The earliest written record was made in 1544 by Matthiolus, an Italian who referred to them as "pomi d'oro" and says they were eaten with "oil, salt and pepper".

The first known occasions of tomatoes being grown in Britain was in 1554 but they were cultivated as ornamental climbing plants.

Despite the fact that the tomato was already a popular foodstuff in Spain and Italy, the Elizabethans thought that the bright red colour of tomatoes was a warning signal and believed them to be poisonous.

The famous 16th Century herbalist John Gerard described tomatoes as "of ranke and stinking savour".

Full-scale commercial cultivation in Britain began in earnest in the 19th Century when the first greenhouses were constructed in Essex and Kent. Nowadays, tomatoes are grown across the globe, from Iceland to the Falkland Islands - and even in space.

Britain produces about 100,000 metric tonnes of tomatoes every year, about a quarter of the amount consumed in total.

Tomatoes are now so popular that each person eats over seven kilograms of the fruit every year.

To meet demand, greenhouses specifically for growing tomatoes cover over 200 hectares and the industry employs over 3,500 people.

The use of greenhouses allows the growing season to be extended from February to November.

The greenhouses used to grow tomatoes commercially are extremely sophisticated and computers control the air quality, irrigation and soil nutrient levels.

These controlled environments allow growers to use natural predators to fight pests and use bumblebees to cross fertilise the plants.

In fact, the British tomato industry employs over two million bumblebees every year.

From flowering to ripeness takes between 40 and 60 days depending on the variety and time of year and British tomatoes will be on supermarket shelves within three days of being picked.

As well as being delicious, versatile and convenient, tomatoes are also very good for you.

Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and fibre, and are cholesterol free. An average size tomato contains just 35 calories.

A University of California study identified the tomato as the single most important fruit or vegetable of western diets in terms of overall source of vitamins and minerals.