Although it is said to be King Henry VIII that crowned Kent as The Garden of England , it was in fact our neolithic ancestors that resided over 4,000 years ago that first established Kent ’ s roots at the forefront of fruitgrowing in the UK . Almost unrecognisable in comparison to the apples we eat today , these bitter fruits grew wild across the county , and it wasn ’ t until Romans arrived on Kentish shores that domestic fruit varieties , with sweeter and greater taste , were introduced .
According to Kent Orchards ( www . kentorchards . org ), the 1300s saw cherries being grown in the service of the church , with a record stating that the Manor of Teynham took 20 pence as a payment for cherries ( ciresis ) picked for the Archbishop of Canterbury . Little is known as to whether the fruit was produced by independent growers and sold to the church , if the monks cultivated the fruit on their own land , or employed others to do it for them . Over 700 years later , Kent is at the forefront of the fruit growing industry in the UK , claiming 90 % of cherries grown in England and 50 % of plums grown in the country – two staggering figures considering this is just one corner of Britain . With almost 10,000 fruit crops on commercial holdings , it is miles ahead of the rest of the country and even the region in second place , Herefordshire , which has just over 6,500 .
However , it is not just fruit that Kent excels at growing . According to a DEFRA report , Kent has the most farms and smallholdings in the South East , with over 2,700 throughout the county . These cover all kinds of farms , from cereals to livestock , spanning over 221,000 hectares of farmland and countryside . But why is Kent just so perfect for produce ? The answer is simple science . With one of the warmest climates in the UK , plenty of sunshine , fertile soil and chalky earth perfect for drainage , Kent has the ideal combination of factors that make fruits , vegetables and plants easier to grow than in any other British counties . This , combined with Kent ’ s close proximity to London , our rivers and eventually our trainlinks , meant produce could be easily shipped into the city , thus Kent cemented its heralded status as an unrivalled place for crop production .
The real testament to Kent ’ s Garden of England glory however , lies in the taste . Year after year , Kent continues to come up trumps in a myriad of competitions and awards in this area . This includes the National Fruit Show ( www . nationalfruitshow . org . uk ), the best showcase for British apples and pears when they are at their absolute peak having just been harvested . In the last show that saw apples from the 2022 harvest , the judges reported that the taste , colour and size of the apples were all excellent , with a real depth and range of flavours - and the vast majority of the winners being from , yes , you guessed it : Kent . “ In short this is one of the very best tasting harvests that British growers have produced and we would encourage shoppers to look out for and buy British apples and pears in the supermarkets now and to help support British growers ,” commented executive chair Sarah Calcutt . But in an economic climate that threatens homegrown produce and the businesses that grow it , how can we do more to ensure that Kent continues to ‘ keep growing ’ and thrive in a world where it is becoming increasingly more difficult for farmers to do so ?
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