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Harvest

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Learning

Factual: Food & Drink

Harvest track the pioneering journeys that go into growing and harvesting our British food

Every summer the British harvest bursts into life. We are there in the heart of the action, witnessing our harvest as a year's hard work culminates into a few critical weeks.

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Harvest 2013

Gregg Wallace

Philippa Forrester

Stefan Gates

Tim Martin

Tim Scoones

Steve Evanson

Harvest: Harvest 2013: Episode 2: Cereals: The Seeds of Life

Factual

Cereals: 'The Seeds of Life'

Episode 2

Episode 2: Cereals: The Seeds of Life

Cereals: The Seeds of Life

BBC Two - Harvest, Harvest 2013, Cereals: The Seeds of Life

Gregg Wallace and Philippa Forrester visit a classic arable farm in the east of England.

Gregg Wallace and Philippa Forrester visit a classic arable farm in the east of England at the start of the frantic wheat harvest.

Right across our countryside it's harvest time. Gregg Wallace and Philippa Forrester are down on the farm revealing the results of this year's harvest as it comes in. This is the spectacular climax of the farming year, when fortunes are won or lost in the attempt to put food on our plates. Our farmers have spent all year carefully tending their crops helped by the very latest science, but they are still completely at the mercy of our fickle weather. Can they put a disastrous 2012, the coldest spring for 50 years and a scorching July behind them and work their magic to bring in a bumper crop? 

In this second episode we visit a classic arable farm in the east of England, the bread basket of Britain. Gregg and Philippa join farmer Tom Bradshaw at the start of his frantic wheat harvest. It's a race against time to get the crop in, using massive combine harvesters that cost more than the average house. Last year most British wheat farmers had a terrible year, the crop wasn't up to standard for making bread and we were forced to import bread wheat from Germany. Will Tom Bradshaw's wheat make the grade in Harvest 2013 and be good enough to be sold for bread? Stefan Gates reveals the biology behind the magic of seeds and how they germinate. Philippa explores the extraordinary precision and speed of the oil seed rape harvest that must be gathered in before a rain storm which could ruin a year's work. And we explore the grain harvest behind whisky, one of Britain's biggest exports.

For the first time on TV, the series will reveal an early harvest report for the UK, which will give an indication of which crops are likely to be the winners and losers in 2013. Has wheat recovered from the washout of 2012 when the poor quality meant most of the crop was only fit to feed to animals? How did slugs and pigeons nearly destroy the oil seed rape harvest of 2013, and what will become of our bumper barley crop this year? Harvest 2013 tells the story of food through the high and lows of a remarkable year of weather.

Harvest 2013 is supported by BBC Learning who have produced a booklet to explain the science behind producing UK crops together with recipes from Gregg Wallace using harvest produce. 
The booklet will be available online at www.bbc.co.uk/Harvest.

Harvest: Harvest 2013

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A celebration of the British harvest following the story of vegetables, cereals and fruit.

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