On Thursday, Thanet Earth hosted a visit for 14 Level 3 and Level 4 students from Hadlow College, accompanied by Alan Harvey, Head of Curriculum, Dr. Ros Fisher, and David Harbour.

During the visit, the group was given a tour of TG5, the cucumber greenhouse, led by Iza Majda. She provided a detailed explanation of the growing techniques, noting that the plants were introduced in January, planted on the slabs, and the ongoing work involved in their growth. Iza highlighted that up to 200,000 cucumbers could be harvested in a single day.

The students then proceeded to the pepper greenhouse, TG2, here they were met by Tomasz Krause, the greenhouse Operations Manager, where the students observed the differences between growing cucumbers and peppers. A walk through the crop allowed them to see the trial line, where some of the chillies were ripening.

The final stop was at the bridge, where the group was able to observe the packhouse in operation. Mike Howland, Factory Manager explained the packhouse’s commitment to being audit-ready, maintaining a safe environment for all employees, and the impressive capacity of the grader, which can process up to 130,000 cucumbers per shift.