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Jan 31, 2024

From pony grooming to DJ dining

The fruit and veg is great, of course, but these rural outlets now do fitness bootcamps, DJ dining, chocolate making and more Farm shops are a wholesome treat for summer days, when jaunts to the

The fruit and veg is great, of course, but these rural outlets now do fitness bootcamps, DJ dining, chocolate making and more

Farm shops are a wholesome treat for summer days, when jaunts to the countryside are common. Generations ago it was all about ­scoffing illicit strawberries at pick-your-own fruit farms, or visiting remote sheds that had honesty boxes and crates of vegetables. But having convinced us to shop local again, farm shops are fast evolving. Now many are spread across vast barns, incorporating swish lifestyle sections and reputable, zero-mile restaurants. Increasingly, it’s about more than just the fruit and veg these days.

Darts Farm in Devon had a fruit business that grew organically into a farm shop when a fridge was added for local cheese and milk. “We still have 80-year-olds coming into the shop now saying, ‘Oh, I remember picking strawberries and broad beans here 50 years ago,’” says its owner, Michael Dart. “We get to know people very well.” Now that many high-street shops have gone, he claims farm shops provide a community service. “It’s not about Amazon delivering to your door,” he says. “Instead, you enjoy your visit, you talk to people and you feel like you are supporting those who are producing things where you live.”

Besides selling fruit, veg, meat and other local goods, Darts Farm has expanded to include a small-batch cider press (in partnership with ­Sandford) and a new a la carte ­restaurant. They also invite people to sign up to cheese-making and ­chocolate-making clubs, and plan to host more wellness activities, like forest bathing, at the farm later this summer.

Darts is not the only farm laying on new experiences. Some farm-shops-with-extras sit on country house estates, while others are examples of family farms that are modernising by expanding their services.

In listed stone barns in Somerset, the vegetables at Durslade Farm Shop have extra photographic allure thanks to their proximity to the Hauser & Wirth contemporary art gallery next door. The shop has just started offering a monthly butchery course, alongside its wine, cider and honey tastings and annual guided foraging sessions. At the shop entrance, stylish straw bags are piled up for customers to casually sling over an arm. Bouquets of dried ­wildflowers spill from boxes beneath shelves of rustic, glazed jugs. The till is made from farm crates and old joinery tables are laden with baked goods.

Ben Carter is the farm manager, who, alongside Durslade’s in-house forager Kenny, has a background in wild food. “Lots of customers had asked us about doing butchery and foraging workshops,” he says, gesturing towards the jars of sweet-cicely hot sauce that are stacked beside wild-garlic piccalilli and blush-coloured lady’s smock vinegar.

The butchery workshop ends, ­fittingly, in dinner that involves ­different cuts of meat and is ­accompanied by wine from Durslade Vineyard. The grapes are a passion ­project for gallerist Manuela Wirth and more vines are being planted. It’s another recent addition to the ­Durslade Farm site, which is also home to the Roth Bar and Grill restaurant, a cider orchard and hard-working bees that make spring and summer honey. You could easily spend hours here, stopping to either break up a long ­journey or to stock up on supplies for the holiday cottage.

Like Durslade, the following farm shops are well worth a visit this ­summer. They are based all over Britain and offer not only top-quality produce but also workshops and experiences such as rum-tasting, pony-grooming, fitness camps and beauty treatments. Fill your boots.

Somerset

Drive past the pretty Somerset town of Bruton on the A303 for a stop at ­Durslade Farm Shop, which offers ­comprehensive butchery courses alongside regular cider, honey and wine tastings. Grapes for the latter are grown in Durslade ­Vineyard, which began ­producing wine in 2018. The farm’s ­speciality is its lamb and award-winning Wagyu X beef, which has just the right amount of ­marbling. There is also the art gallery at Hauser & Wirth to explore (free entry), plus the Roth Bar and Grill for brunches through to steak dinners.

Devon

Artisan chocolate is made by hand at this flourishing farm shop. Chocolatier ­Louise moved from London to the site (at Topsham, just off the M5) and ­visitors can watch the bean-to-bar ­process in action. As well as broken slabs of ­flavoured chocolate, the team makes handcrafted truffles and gelato, too. There are also regular ­chocolate-making masterclasses. Attached to the farm shop is a mix of restaurants and cafés, including the Farm Table, where locally grown and reared food is cooked over fire. There is a cider bar and vineyard, too, with ­sparkling wines made following the champagne method.

Flintshire

Young gardeners can get planting at the Little Growers Club in the market ­garden of this Welsh estate, not far from Liverpool and Chester. Weekly Forage & Make sessions are also available and a signposted walking trail leads through woods, meadows and vegetable patches. The Walled Garden School is a pretty place for lessons in open-fire cooking, photography, gardening and yoga, while the farm shop’s café serves brunch, lunch and afternoon tea. Take a punnet to the fruit fields or stay overnight at the campsite, which has pitches or ­pre-erected bell tents.

Buckinghamshire

This 40-acre farm in the Chilterns styles itself as a farm shop and wellbeing destination. Drop-in sessions (£12; ­Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday) at ­outdoor fitness bootcamps take place in a Dutch barn with equipment, under the supervision of personal trainers. Pick seasonal soft fruit, sunflowers and pumpkins, or buy a house plant. As well as supporting local suppliers, the farm shop strives to stock unusual items. The industrial, ­timber-clad Barn Kitchen serves flatbreads, sharing boards and small plates.

Cheshire

An ideal stop for families, this Warrington farm shop has modern facilities. In summer, there’s a variety of fruit and sunflower picking to get involved with. The farm has also reopened its giant maize maze, with fairytale-themed characters to find along the route (takes 30 mins, £3.50). The shop sells organic meat, presses its own rapeseed oil and sells duck eggs alongside homegrown vegetables and artisan goodies. Refuel in the bright cafe, where the farmhouse breakfasts are generous – plus there is a children’s menu and afternoon tea.

Gloucestershire

With a farm near Westonbirt Arboretum, this shop has sustainability at its heart. Its new, festoon-lit bar opens for lunches until 8pm and is handmade from local Douglas fir. A local DJ or live band provide a soundtrack for diners grazing on proper burgers, toasties and other bar snacks. There’s organic beer and cider on tap, and Cotswolds wine. The farm shop, meanwhile, is loved for its rare-breed, pasture-fed beef; local flowers; homemade ice cream; pygmy goats and drive-through café.

Gloucestershire and Cumbria

Offering motorists on the M5 and M6 great-quality ingredients that speak for the landscape around them, these award-winning services have food halls and canteens. Children’s meals cost just £1, but they are a world away from school dinners. More than 100 ­producers from within 30 miles ­contribute to the deli, butchers, cheese and fish counters, plus there is an expertly-curated ­lifestyle section. The services work within their ­communities. At Tebay, a volunteer-run search-and-rescue charity in nearby hills is half funded by the services. At Gloucester, 3p in every £1 is put back into sustainable community development.

Nottinghamshire

Dropworks claims to be the largest rum distillery in the UK, taking produce from the Welbeck Estate to another level. Its copper vats can be toured (60 mins, £25) before or after visiting the Welbeck Farm Shop, which stocks rum alongside real ale from the Welbeck Abbey ­Brewery (also open for viewings). The Harley Gallery has fine art to admire, while the Harley Café plates up seasonal dishes. Don’t miss the ­Stichelton cheese, made with milk from the ­Welbeck Dairy, also in the farm shop.

West Lothian

Children will be excited to meet the ­animals at this farm shop just outside Edinburgh. The farm has an adventure play barn, called Little Farmers, with both indoor and outdoor equipment and a daily schedule of furry meet-and-greets. Expect a farm talk in the ­morning, followed by pony grooming at lunch then animal handling in the ­afternoon, involving pigs, pygmy goats, chickens and Highland cows. There is fruit picking available also and little ones can learn to make jam. Take-away treats from the farm shop include pies, cut flowers, cheese, the finest cuts of meat and chocolate. The smart, ­contemporary café serves comfort food.

Dorset

Stretch your muscles in a yurt set up for weekly hatha yoga classes on this biodynamic farm that feeds the soil rather than the plant. The yurt also hosts chair yoga, baby sensory classes and creative dance (see website for details). The farm has a caring ethos and works with adults who have support needs. The shop stocks organic ­produce, ethical homeware and gifts. Children can play with mini-diggers, see goats and chickens, and run about in the orchard.

Lincolnshire

This Elizabethan hall and farm shop has the biggest cycling shop in ­Lincolnshire. Those with their own wheels can try short cycling routes around the estate, or there is a new ­tarmacked, off-road trail. The hall’s walled kitchen garden was revitalised with funds from the National Lottery and it supplies the farm shop with zero-mile produce. Look out for beef from Doddington’s Lincoln red cattle and estate honey. The shop also has a ­vegetable swap scheme, whereby locals donate their surplus.

Norfolk

Beauticians are standing by to perform hot stone massages, facials and pedicures at the Barn, one of the converted spaces at this family-run farm just outside ­Norwich. Once a fruit farm dating back 150 years, sunflowers and pumpkins can still be picked here in season. Monthly farmers’ markets are held that celebrate north Norfolk produce, while the old pig sheds are home to shops ­including a pottery studio, butcher’s and a doggy daycare facility. The farm shop ­features colourful racks of vegetables, as well as dairy, beef and local condiments.

Gloucestershire

Daylesford was an early pioneer of organic food under Carole Bamford and today it has a slick cookery school. Students can book courses that last a few hours, with themes such as ­baking for afternoon tea or barbecuing. The farm’s dining room, the Trough Café, has a Michelin Green Star and there is another ­restaurant and bar. The Wine Stall hosts drop-in tasting sessions. On the shop floor, Daylesford sells its own organic cheeses alongside fruit and veg from its market garden and many other own-brand products, from lemon curd to dog food. The ­homeware ­section is also in a class of its own, with tasteful throws, quilts, tablecloths, candles and more.

Kent

The food hall at this farmer’s market is set in an early Victorian locomotive shed with exposed timbers and a vaulted roof. Bunches of dried herbs hang from the rafters and a vintage engine is displayed. Items on the veg stall have all come from within 12 miles of Canterbury and fish fresh sits on ice at the city’s only independent fish stall. It’s somewhere to ­linger, especially over a cocktail at the Wild Goose Bar. Set in a corner of the ­market, it offers small plates and English garden-inspired libations. The market restaurant is also an atmospheric place, and one that stages candlelit group banquets in winter.

Suffolk

Among the independent shops in the courtyard of Alder Carr, it is the Grade II-listed windmill buck – home to the antique shop William & Herbert – that stands out. Inside is an eccentric trove of vintage and salvage decor. The farm shop itself has wicker baskets packed with fruit and veg lined along the walls. Browse for artisanal products from around Suffolk, peruse the delicatessen and butcher’s counter or indulge in a scoop of award-winning ice cream. The Courtyard Café serves food from inside a timbered barn and families will enjoy the farm animals and play area.