Kent farm supplies Wimbledon with 1.5m strawberries

Tennis and strawberries go hand in hand at each annual Wimbledon tournament.

And with the first rounds underway, a Kent farm has said it will be supplying around 1.5 million strawberries to Wimbledon over the two-week event.

Hugh Lowe Farms in the village of Mereworth, between Maidstone and Tonbridge, has been providing the tournament with berries for the past 31 years.

But Marion Regan, the farm's managing director, said past experience "doesn't necessarily remove the stress" from making sure the fruit is ready in time.

Ms Regan told BBC Radio Kent workers had been picking strawberries since 05:00 BST on 1 July.

She added: "Strawberries are in the chiller and getting ready to be dispatched, so all systems go."

She said Wimbledon takes about "40 tons of strawberries over the two weeks".

In regards to the weather conditions for growing the strawberries she said: "The main problem with the weather we have is trying to time our crops so they peak in the two weeks of Wimbledon."

But the farm in Mereworth is prepared for the unpredictable British weather as Ms Regan said they "plant quite a few different fields" as they never know whether it's going to be an early or late spring.

With the weather being "relatively cool" Ms Regan said the strawberries have developed slowly but this could be "good for flavour".

She said the Kent community can also get a taste of the berries that are good enough for Wimbledon, adding there will be "plenty for everyone all summer long".

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