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Exploring a sea of glass at Lea Valley

A special edition reports from the salad-growing glasshouses of the Lea Valley, where up to half of the UK’s tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and aubergines are grown.

A special Easter Monday edition reports from the Lea Valley on the Hertfordshire-Essex border about 20 miles north of London.

It’s an agricultural area you might not have heard of. But you’ll almost certainly have had some of their produce in your fridge.

Inside the sea of glasshouses - some new, some semi-derelict dating back to the 1960s - are where up to as much as half of the UK’s tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and aubergines are grown.

We are here to meet some of the people who make this place work and ask how they and their families came to be here in the first place.

And we explore the future of the Lea Valley and the process of handing over to the next generation of growers.

Presented and produced by Howard Shannon.

Release date:

12 minutes

Broadcast

  • Monday 05:45

Podcast