Emma KnightsHe oversees the growth of 35,000 tonnes of carrots each year, and tonight Norfolk farm manager Steve Mumford is to appear on television celebrating the new season carrot harvest.Emma Knights

He oversees the growth of 35,000 tonnes of carrots each year, and tonight Norfolk farm manager Steve Mumford is to appear on television celebrating the new season carrot harvest.

Mr Mumford, 46, who has been farm manager for Knights Farm for more than 14 years, will feature in a section of the BBC One programme The One Show that looks at the night time harvests of summer carrots which are prized for their fresh, sweet and aromatic flavour.

Filming for the show took place last week when The One Show team visited Warren Farm at Cockley Cley, which is part of Knights Farm, to see the carrots being harvested. They then went to Watton Produce in Shropham to watch the carrots being packed up ready to be sent out to shops and stores.

Mr Mumford said: 'In the summer we harvest carrots at night because the temperatures are so hot during the day. 'Harvesting them at night helps to stop the carrots dehydrating.

'We need to stop the carrots dehydrating because carrots are 90pc water and they soon wilt especially in the temperatures we have been having recently.

'We start harvesting from midnight to supply our customers in the early morning.'

Mr Mumford, a father of three, added: 'New season carrots are eagerly awaited by everyone on the farm. They're a fantastic crop, really sweet and delicious. And the new season carrot midnight harvest is anticipated with some excitement as it truly marks the beginning of the summer for us here at Knights Farm.'

Knights Farm supplies carrots to the food service industry, supermarkets, local farm shops, and the NHS as part of their Schools Fruit and Veg scheme.

Knights Farm harvests carrots in Norfolk and parts of Suffolk from June until February. For the rest of the year it harvests carrots on the Moray Coast in the north of Scotland.

? The One Show is on BBC One tonight at 7pm.