Alan Titchmarsh Reveals the 20th Century Garden That Changed Britain | Garden Secrets (Part 1)

Speed or careful work? Which one is the real key to a great harvest? On giant farm fields, modern machines can quickly handle a massive amount of crops without stopping for even a single minute. But for soft fruits that bruise easily, a farmer's gentle skilled hands still can't be replaced by anything. Let's take a tour of several special harvests around the world to To find the answer. In California, in the United States, to meet the need to harvest carrots over large areas, special machines are used. They combine many steps from pulling the carrots out of the ground and rough cleaning to hauling them right in the field. The cutter at the front removes the leaves above the carrots and spreads them back over the field to add organic matter to the soil. Digging blades loosen the soil around the carrots, and a system of gripping belts pulls them up out of the bed. The carrots then move along sifting belts, where sand and clumps of dirt are shaken off. After rough cleaning, the carrots go onto a slanted belt that carries them into a storage bin, or onto a truck driving alongside. Thanks to the machine's careful work, the carrots come out whole, with fewer scratches, and stay naturally fresh. With a yearly harvest of about 2.5 billion pounds, California plays an important role in U.S. farming. In 2025 alone, the sales value of this crop reached about $1.83 billion. On the big raspberry fields in Washington, modern harvesters are now used to save time and get more work done. With light fiberglass rods that shake, the machine gently shakes the raspberry branches so ripe berries fall off, while doing little harm to the branches and young berries. Then the berries go straight onto a built-in conveyor belt, where strong air blows away dry leaves and small bits of trash. The machine has a work deck on top, where workers check the quality of the berries right after picking. Berries that are crushed or too ripe are thrown out, and only fresh, good-looking berries are kept and put in baskets. Modern technology mixed with careful sorting helps the berries stay in good shape and stay fresh before they are packed or processed. Harvesters are now common on large raspberry farms in the U.S. with a rate of up to 90% mention. Because they can run for many hours in a row, the machines cut down on time and make harvesting work better. In summer, when oats turn the field's gold, combined harvesters head out to start the harvest. As the machine moves along the field, its cutting blades work non-stop, quickly cutting the oat stalks and pulling them inside. Inside, the oats pass through screens and fans, where the grain is slowly separated from the stalks. After it is cleaned, the grain is moved up to the tank on top. It can hold up to about 5,283 gallons. Meanwhile, the leftover stalks are chopped up and spread evenly over the field, which adds organic matter and makes the soil richer for future crops. While the harvester keeps moving, oats from the full tank are unloaded into a truck driving alongside without stopping the machine. Running without a break speeds up the harvest on fields that cover thousands of acres and lowers the risk of bad weather hurting the crop. At peak times, the machines can run non-stop and handle 110,000 to 176,000 pounds of oats per hour. When logging season starts, big machines that cut and haul timber roll into the forest, each one weighing nearly 40,000 pounds. First, a hydraulic arm grips the tree trunk, while a chainsaw blade quickly cuts through the base. Then, the trunk is lifted and pulled through a set of automatic rollers that strip off the branches and bark. Laser sensors measure the length of the log and send the data to the control system so the machine can cut the trunk into even pieces about 6.5 feet long. A GPS system tracks the whole job, making sure the machine stays in its work area and and does as little harm to the forest floor as possible. As soon as the first trees are down, another machine takes over the job of collecting and hauling the wood. A hydraulic arm with a flexible rotating grapple lets the hauler lift and stack heavy bundles of logs with care. Each trip, the hauler can carry up to 31,000 pounds of wood. With about 70 trips, more than 1,000 trees will be moved to the collection area. Even with that heavy load, the machine still turns easily in the forest, making the whole job smooth and efficient. After the harvester takes the tree trunks, the branches and treetops are left all over the logging site. This wood can't be used for building or making furniture, so it goes into the wood chipper. It all starts with the crane. Bundles of branches are lifted, placed into the feed opening, and pulled deep inside by toothed feed rollers. In there, a drum full of knives spins hundreds of times per minute, tearing the wood into chips just a few centimeters The chips fall through a screen that sorts them by size, then a powerful blast of air shoots them up into the waiting truck. All this power doesn't come from its own engine, but from the nearly 400 horsepower tractor in front sent through a single PTO shaft. On busy days, the machine runs from early morning until dark, with only the headlights shining on the crane and the truck. The whole job needs good teamwork. The person in the cab controls the crane, while also keeping an eye on the chips in When one truck is full, the next one is already waiting beside it, so the chipper never has to stop, not even for a minute. These trucks take the chips to boilers and heating plants, where they become a source of heat and electricity for people in the area. Three chippers work together. In just one hour, they can make enough chips to keep a whole plant running for a full day, from a thrown-away branch to the light and warmth in every home. The wood chipper shows one thing. In farming and forestry, nothing is really waste. Picking golden berries takes great care at every step, so the natural outer cover stays whole and the fruit inside does not get bruised. Farmers check each berry to see if it is ripe, then use scissors or a knife to cut it without hurting the berries around it. Since the berries ripen at different times, picking is done in several rounds, so only the berries with the best quality are chosen. Each golden berry is gently set in a shallow tray so it does not get pressed or crushed. The appeal of golden berries comes from a mild sweet taste with a little tang, plus their nutrition and the possible benefits they may bring to health. With imports worth about $6.6 million USD each year, Columbia is an important source of golden berries for the US. This fruit is mostly sold at organic food stores, specialty stores, and high-end grocery Golden berries are fairly pricey, about $11.16 per pound for fresh ones, and organic or dried products often cost even more. Mint grows fast, so it can do very well in damp soil with little direct sunlight. To make use of this, mint is usually harvested on a regular schedule to keep it from growing too wild and to help new growth come in. To harvest mint well, farmers need to work fast and with care. Cutting the stem right above the healthy leaves so the plant keeps growing all season. The best time to harvest is early morning, when mint keeps its fresh green look, which is good for cooking and medicine. Besides picking by hand, big farms also use modern machines to cut down on work and raise output. As it moves along each row of mint, the machine uses a set of blades to cut the plants very accurately. Because it runs steadily and cuts evenly, The machine speeds up the work while keeping the leaves in good shape. Depending on the conditions, each machine can harvest about 5 to 10 acres of mint a day, which helps raise output and keep the season on schedule. Mint is useful in daily life, from making essential oil to being a common spice in many kinds of cooking. This plant is also used in natural health care, mostly because it helps digestion and eases headaches. Across endless fields, millions of bell peppers hang heavy on the plants, ready for harvest. Huge harvesting machines start to roll, moving slowly and steadily along each row. The front of the machine, rotating rollers and soft belts wrap around the plants, pulling the peppers off without bruising the skin. The machine can easily adjust its height to collect as many peppers as possible. Once removed from the plants, The peppers drop onto a conveyor system inside the machine. Fans blow away leaves, broken stems, dirt and sand, leaving only clean peppers behind. The flow of peppers then moves up a tall conveyor several feet high and pours straight into the bed of a truck driving alongside. The harvester and the truck move at the same speed, working together so that not a single pepper falls to the ground. Every hour, one machine can pick several tons of peppers, An amount that dozens of workers would need a full day to reach. When the truck is full, another one quickly takes its place, so the machine can keep working without stopping. Behind them, workers pick up any peppers left behind and remove damaged ones in the field. One after another, trucks loaded with peppers leave the field. At the processing plant, millions of peppers are gently poured onto conveyor belts. Workers quickly pick out any peppers that are bruised, cracked, or soft from being bumped during transport. Next, the peppers pass through large water tanks and non-stop water sprays that wash away dirt and dust. Then they are dried and sent to the inspection area. Along both sides of the conveyor belt, skilled workers carefully watch every pepper that goes by, removing misshapen ones and those with disease or pest damage. Only peppers that meet the standards move on to the packing area. There, the peppers are packed into cardboard boxes or wrapped in thin plastic film to keep them moist and safe from bumps. Another part of the harvest goes to the processing line. Here, robotic arms work non-stop with amazing accuracy. Each pepper is held firmly, turned to the right position and cut cleanly, creating pieces that are all the same size and shape. At the same time, Cutting blades set along the conveyor remove the core, seeds, and white membranes inside in just seconds, while the thick, crunchy flesh continues down the line. From the field to the dinner table, every bell pepper is the result of technology and human hands. On pepper farms, farmers decide when to harvest by the color of the berries. When about 5% of the berries on a cluster start to turn yellow or red, it is time to pick. Farmers watch closely and only pick the clusters that are ripe enough, so the young clusters can keep growing on the vine. Even though it is not fast, picking by hand has an advantage because farmers can directly control the quality and ripeness of what they pick. Picking at the right time helps peppercorns keep a lot of their natural oil, along with with their smell and strong spicy taste and avoids berries that lack flavor or are overripe. After harvest, the pepper is processed by separating the berries from the clusters, removing leaves and dirt, and drying them to make sure the quality is good before they go to the factory. With its special smell and tasty, spicy flavor, pepper has become an essential part of many cuisines, helping make food taste better. With output between about 187,000 and 215,000 tons a year, 18,000 tons a year. Vietnam is now the world's top producer and exporter of pepper, supplying around 35-40% of the world's total. After a long time growing under sun and wind, the sesame fields slowly ripen and get ready for harvest. At this point, the dry pods turn brown and show the seeds inside. Harvesting starts with cutting each sesame plant with a sickle. Next, the plants are tied into bundles and stood upside down in the field to dry in the sun. Standing the bundles upside down lets moisture escape slowly, helps the pods dry faster, and keeps mold away. About a week later, when the pods are dry, crisp, and split open, farmers gently tap the base of each bundle on a tarp so the seeds fall out. On average, one bundle of sesame plants can hold 250,000 to 300,000 seeds. Harvesting sesame is always a race against the weather. The drier the pods get, the easier they split, and the light seeds are easily blown away by wind, causing big losses. On large farms in the United States, sesame is harvested with combine harvesters. In a single pass, the machine can cut the plants, separate the seeds, and clean them, which cuts work time a lot. Thanks to their speed, the machines make harvesting faster, cut down on spilled seeds and lower the risk of losing the crop when the weather turns bad. Small but valuable, sesame seeds are up to 60% oil and hold many key nutrients. They are widely used in food and skin care products. This journey of discovery has shown how many ways there are to harvest from jobs done by hand that take great care to modern machines that process huge amounts of raw ingredients in a very short time. Which one impresses you more? The modern machines or the skill in the old-fashioned ways of harvesting? Please leave your answer in the comments section and tell us what you think.