Cornwall daffodil farmers enjoying lockdown sales boom ahead of Mother's Day

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The owners of Cornwall's largest daffodil farm say they are enjoying a bumper year of sales as Mother's Day approaches.

Fentongollan Farm, near Truro, has seen orders more than double from last year as more people sign up for 'flowers by post' due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Frances Hosking, the sixth generation of her family to oversee things on the farm, says lockdown has sent demand through the roof.

"We've seen a massive rise, probably double or maybe triple our flowers by post orders," she said.

The farm has seen a sales boom this year. Credit: ITV News

"People are either keen to shop locally or they have been sat at home and they've seen our Facebook posts a lot."

Located in a remote spot just outside Truro, Fentongollan place is a real family affair - Frances' father James and her grandfather Jim have farmed the land for 130 years.

Daffodil farms rely mainly on pickers from Eastern European countries. Brexit and Covid have made that more difficult - but here at Fentongollan, they have had more trouble recruiting locals to do the job.

Frances Hosking is the sixth generation of her family to oversee things at Fentongollan. Credit: ITV News

"It is hard work," says Frances. "But this is the period where they come and earn their money to take back home. Hopefully they will come back again next year and it goes on like that."

There are around 400 different varieties of daffodil across 140 acres of land, and the fastest pickers are pulling up 1,600 bunches a day.

The farm employs pickers from Eastern European countries. Credit: ITV News

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