What a wholesome, summery activity picking your own fruit is. Guarantee a berry good time with our guide to 10 great PYO fruit farms in the UK.
It's time to head to a pick your own (PYO) farm and enjoy your fruit and vegetables as nature intended – straight from the plant.
Roundstone Farm, West Sussex
Ride out to the fields on the back of a tractor at this large family-friendly farm near Worthing. Berries, currants, rhubarb and plums are ripe and ready throughout July, August and early September and you’ll also find an astonishing array of vegetables, including beetroot, marrows, courgettes, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. Reward yourself with a cuppa and piece of cake in the tearoom afterwards.
Parkside Farm, Middlesex
Pop into Parkside Farm between June and October and you can come away laden with strawberries, raspberries, spinach, beans, beetroot, sweetcorn and other fresh produce. Some 20 crops are grown on 50 acres of rolling greenbelt just north of Enfield, and the farm has won multiple awards for the high quality of its fruit and vegetables. There’s a picnic area and a shop selling ice creams, cold drinks and farm honey.
Primrose Vale, Gloucestershire
This excellent farm shop in the rolling Cotswolds near Cheltenham sells local vegetables, organic meat, cheese and savouries year-round. Between May and September the owners throw open the fields to PYO-ers looking for plump, table-grown strawberries, free from bugs, slugs and mud. Raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, loganberries, tayberries and whitecurrants grow here too, along with runner beans, broad beans and peas. The café serves cream teas and cakes throughout the summer.
Shute Fruit and Produce, Devon
Fill your punnets at this slice of heaven in Devon; a fruit farm with glorious views across the sparkling waters of the Teign estuary. Head there in July and August for strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, broad beans and courgettes; and root veg from September. The WI know good jam when they taste it, so pick up a jar of Lori’s strawberry in the shop – they recently declared it ‘best in the UK’. She also makes elderflower cordial from flowers picked around the farm.
Court Farm and Leisure, Herefordshire
Turn produce-picking with the kids into a whole day out at Court Farm near Tillington. They can meet goats, pigs and ducks, plus pick warm hens’ eggs and burn off energy in the play area. Of course you can also load up on fresh strawberries, cherries, tayberries, gooseberries and apples, and get your veg fix too – the farm has beans, courgettes, potatoes, sweetcorn, tomatoes and lots more. Afterwards settle down with a picnic or lunch in the café.
Brocksbushes Farm, Northumberland
Fill the freezer with gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, tayberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants – they’re all ready for picking here throughout July, August and beyond. You can also stock up the rest of your kitchen in the farm shop, which sells homemade cakes, pies and ready meals; hams, sausages, fish, cheese and chutneys, plus a great selection of world wines. Sign your children up for the Brockettes Fruit Club and they can pick as often as they like.
Claremont Farm, Merseyside
It’s strawberry fields forever at this specialist farm near Birkenhead. The PYO fields are open until mid-August and owners claim to grow several varieties not found in the supermarkets. There are also raspberries, tayberries, redcurrants and gooseberries; and at weekends you can hitch a ride on a tractor out to the fields. There’s an excellent farm shop selling vegetables, local meats, cheeses, charcuterie and bread; if it makes you hungry then stay for lunch at the café.
Hendrewennol Farm, Vale of Glamorgan
Enjoy a day out with the family in the rolling countryside near Cardiff and come home laden with fruit. Children can muck about in the sandpit, crawl through willow domes and bounce around on a hill of hay bales while you relax with a coffee in the sunshine. The strawberries finish at the end of July, but all summer long you can load your baskets with raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, broad beans, courgettes and beetroot.
Belhaven Fruit Farm, East Lothian
Take in the views and the sea air along this beautiful stretch of Scottish coastline south of Edinburgh. The Rennie family has grown strawberries and other soft fruit here since the 1980s and has extended their season to September by using polytunnels. There’s a café, an outdoor play area and a shop stocking COOK meals and local treats such as artisan chocolates. Check the website for events and fetes in the large barn.
Border’s Berries, Roxburghshire
Berry-lovers passing the Borders should call in and see the Busbys – the family have been growing strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants and tayberries here for 50 years. Tuck into a slice of Harriet’s raspberry and lime drizzle cake in the simple café, which is only open during picking season, or choose a homemade ice cream or refreshing glass of cordial. The berries are expected to last until late August.
This is a classic lovefood article that has been updated
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