June and July, ten till six: three acres of strawberries by the lane, a punnet from the shed, and this website says from the clock whether the field is open
Pick-your-own strawberries
Three acres of strawberries in the field by the lane, open to pick from the first week of June until the end of July, ten till six, with raspberries from the middle of July. A punnet from the shed for a £2 deposit, weighed on the way out at £6.50 a kilo. The pick-your-own page reads the clock and says whether the field is open today, and the farm gate has a sign that says the same.
From the first week of June the field by the lane fills with people bent double, and it is the best eight weeks of the year on the farm. Three acres of strawberries on straw, raspberry canes along the hedge from the middle of July, a shed with punnets and scales, and a rule that what you eat in the field is between you and the field.
How it works: park in the lane field, take a punnet from the shed for a £2 deposit (your own container is fine, weighed empty first), pick along the rows that are marked open that day, and come back to the scales: £6.50 a kilo for strawberries, £8.50 for raspberries, the deposit back when the punnet comes back. A kilo is about a large punnet and a half. The rows are rotated so that there is always ripe fruit on an open row; the closed rows are ripening for tomorrow. Children pick free with an adult and we do not weigh the children.
The season runs from about the first week of June, depending on the spring, until the end of July, ten till six every day, and this page reads the clock: it says open when it is June or July and between ten and six, and otherwise says when the field next opens. Rain closes the field for the day, and we post that at the gate and on the shop phone by nine. Ready-picked punnets are on the trestles in the shop at £4.20 through the season for the people who would rather not bend, and the café does strawberries and cream from the first pick to the last.
What you get
- Three acres of strawberries; raspberries from mid-July
- Open June and July, 10am to 6pm; the page says from the clock
- £6.50 a kilo strawberries, £8.50 raspberries, picked by you
- A punnet for a £2 deposit, or your own container
- Children pick free with an adult
- Ready-picked punnets at the shop, £4.20
What it costs
Strawberries £6.50 a kilo picked by you, raspberries £8.50; a punnet for a £2 deposit, back when you return it. Ready-picked at the shop at £4.20 a punnet while they last. The seasonal calendar says what is in the fields this month; the boxes page builds this week's box with the total.
Questions about pick your own
When exactly does the field open?
The first week of June most years, a week later after a cold spring. The pick-your-own page says open or closed from the clock, and in the last week of May we put the first date on it and at the gate.
What if it rains?
A shower is fine; a wet day closes the field, because the fruit bruises and the lane field turns to mud. We put the decision at the gate and on the shop phone by nine.
This week's box, built in a minute, on the step on Thursday.
Small, medium or large with this week's contents listed, eggs, bread and milk if you want them, and the total before you order. By Tuesday noon; collected from Thursday or delivered Thursday and Friday within eight miles, £3.50, free over £30. No subscription.