For a fruit with such a fleeting season, the cherry attracts a lot of attention. Its succulent sweetness is symbolic of high summer in prose, poetry and painting. Its blossom is revered in Japan and is the focus of festivals in the United States, South Africa, Australia and throughout Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Yet in Kent where only 50 years ago there were 18,000 acres of cherry orchards, there are now less than 1,000 and the fruit has been sadly neglected. A concerted effort is under way to revive its cultivation and demand for home-grown cherries is rising fast as consumers become more concerned about food miles, healthy eating and are keener to know how and where their fruit is grown. There is also increasing evidence that its reputation as a healthy food is merited: cherries contain a high level of antioxidants, known to reduce the risk factor for heart disease and some cancers, and a recent study showed they were also effective in easing the pain of arthritis and gout.

With its intense burst of blossom and its brief but delicious bounty of fruit, a cherry tree is an ideal subject for a gentle lesson in cultivation to put supermarket-bred children back in touch with the notions of locally grown and seasonal food. Few crops offer such a sensationally tasty reward straight from the branch.

But they are not easy to grow. So in his orchard at Northiam, on the Kent/Sussex border, Michael Dallaway, a farmer, has come up with an ingenious rent-a-tree service. The idea is simple: in return for a £30 annual fee Dallaway does all the work and the renter gets to picnic in the orchard at blossom time (now) and to pick the harvest in July, as well as receiving regular e-mails on the progress of the tree and prospects for its crop.

Each tree is expected to produce at least 10kg of fruit, although, depending on conditions, that could double in a good year. Last year the 300 pioneer renters in Dallaway's orchard had an average of 15kg from each tree. That makes it a good deal in financial terms: cherry prices in supermarkets last year ranged from £6 to £12 per kilo and British-grown ones are among the more expensive. Even farm gate sales start at £5 per kilo.

However, saving money is not the point of this exercise. “Cherries are one of the most satisfying crops to grow. But they are very sensitive and crops can vary widely according to conditions,” says Dallaway. “This year there have been cold winds and you could see the buds almost desperate to burst into blossom, but waiting for the warmth. Last year April was so warm and sunny it was the opposite. The flowering is so spectacular and the fruit can sometimes weigh down the branches. Only about one-in-ten of the blossoms sets as a fruit; if they all set it would break the tree.”

The fruiting season lasts six weeks

Dallaway inherited the orchard from his father when it was planted with 25-year-old cox apple trees. “That's pretty much the age limit for a commercial fruit tree and we had cherries in another orchard, so I decided to try them here.” There are 2,200 trees in Northiam planted in 2003 and last year's was the first full crop. There are five varieties, from the early Kordia to the late Regina, but even so the fruiting season lasts only about six weeks. The fruit from trees that are not rented is sold at farmers' markets or via a co-operative to supermarkets, including Sainsbury's.

“They require quite a lot of work. To get the best yield the new growth has to be laboriously bent and tied down to increase sap flow and ensure optimum flowering and fruiting. Then as soon as the fruit sets they need to be netted, otherwise the birds, especially the wood pigeons, will strip them in a day,” says Dallaway.

Cherry trees in ancient orchards can tower to 60ft (18m) or more, and need long ladders for picking, but modern varieties are grown on dwarf rootstock that is resilient to changeable weather, and rigorous pruning ensures that the fruit can all be reached from the ground. Once the fruit is set the trees are given a weekly foliar feed, an organic seaweed-based liquid, to ensure juicy fruit.

However, the process cannot yet be totally organic because cherries are prone to pests and the trees have to be sprayed once in bud to prevent caterpillars destroying them and again after the fruit has been picked to stop aphids eating all the new growth.

The cause of the British cherry is being championed nationally by FoodLoversBritain.com under the title CherryAid, launched by the food writer and campaigner Henrietta Green at last month's Real Food Festival in Earls Court. It has set up a website with directions to orchards, farm shops and markets selling the fruit throughout the country and offering cherry recipes from well-known chefs. It has declared July 19 to be the first British Cherry Day, exactly when Dallaway expects my rented Kordia tree to be bearing its peak fruit.

Michael Dallaway's orchard is at Cook's Yard Farm, New Road, Northiam, near Rye, East Sussex; www.rentacherrytree.co.uk . For information on CherryAid, www.FoodLoversBritain.com

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