In message , Brian Gaff
writes
I'd have thought, by now this kind of thing should be automated. Brian

I once met a man set on developing a machine for picking
Blackcurrants:-)

Much horticultural research goes into developing hybrid varieties with
very narrow ripening periods. Thus aiding mechanised harvesting to the
annoyance of vegetable gardeners who want extended ripening so they can
enjoy a crop over a longer period.

The clip I saw on the BBC site looked a bit biased as none of the
volunteers appeared used to hard physical labour and afterwards very
willing to leave the job to migrant workers.

I stopped selling market garden produce in 1994 and am now way out of
touch but, there was never much margin to pay harvesting labour.

I'd be very surprised if anyone harvests commercial potatoes by hand.
Mark one eyeball for sorting green and damaged out maybe!

This country has moved on from the days when teams of navvies dug canals
and built railways by hand.


--
Tim Lamb