A decade ago anyone suggesting growing cherries in the Howe o’ the Mearns would have attracted some strange looks but now it is very much a reality with crops reaching 15 tonnes per hectare.
Father and son Murray and Ross Mitchell have innovated hugely to make this possible and are now among a handful of Scottish growers producing punnet fruit for sale through the Berrygardens marketing co-operative with 60% of their produce destined for Marks and Spencer.
The Mitchells started planting in 2010 and now have eight hectares of cherries as part of the 95 hectare (235 acres) fruit enterprise they run at Castleton, near Fordoun.
“The key to growing cherries so far north has of course been the use of polytunnels,” said Ross.
“We have stuck to standard Spanish tunnels and don’t close the ends apart from at flowering time. We do however have to net them to keep birds out.”
A range of varieties are grown to spread picking date from early August to the end of September with traditional varieties grafted on to dwarf root stock.
One of the major challenges has been to reduce the risk of frost at flowering time and here Ross has used imported vineyard technology. He has two propane-fuelled, tractor-towed “frost busters” which run up and down the tunnels all night when there is a risk of low temperature.
Apart from raising the temperature the blast of heated air keeps the delicate blossoms dry making them less susceptible to frost.
Harvest is a “once over” hand-picked operation with around 50 of the 350 seasonal workers on the farm employed on the cherry crop.
“We were attracted to cherries because of the scope for market growth. There was clearly a gap at the end of the English season and before imports arrive. That’s the market we are looking to fill,” said Ross.
M&S fruit buyer Shaz Rehman said: “Cherries have always been popular choice among our customers. Our Scottish growers now enable us to provide British cherries for longer thanks to their northerly position.”