All templates
Pick your own · June to October · ring before you drive
The field can be picked out by lunchtime. Ring before you set off.
Pick-your-own has one real failure mode, and it's a family driving forty minutes to a row that was cleared at half past eleven. So the number is at the top of this page, somebody actually answers it, and sometimes the honest answer is "not today". The rest of this page is what's ready when, what it costs, and the four practical things that decide whether you have a good morning.
40 minsThe drive most people make
11amWhen a good Saturday row runs out
10 daysHow long one variety is ready
3 wksHow much the season moves, year to year
The last two are the whole argument for windows instead of dates. Put your own in — and if your season is tighter than three weeks, you have been lucky rather than accurate.
Why to ring first
A good Saturday clears a row by lunchtime — Two hundred people pick faster than a field ripens. It isn't a shortage and it isn't bad planning — it's just how a finite number of strawberries works
The season moves by up to three weeks — The same variety can be ready in the first week of August or the last, depending on a fortnight of weather in May. Any page printing dates is wrong two years in three
Rain the night before closes us — Not for the fruit — for the ground. A wet clay field with a hundred cars on it is a field nobody can use again this year, so we shut and we're sorry
We would much rather turn you away on the phone — Thirty seconds beats an hour in the car and a disappointed back seat. Nobody has ever been annoyed at being told not to come
The answer is often "come Thursday" — Weekday mornings are the best picking of the week by a distance, and almost nobody does it. If you can, do
Where we post it — One channel, updated the night before and again if something changes. It's linked in the footer and it's the only place we update
The season moves by up to three weeks — The same variety can be ready in the first week of August or the last, depending on a fortnight of weather in May. Any page printing dates is wrong two years in three
Rain the night before closes us — Not for the fruit — for the ground. A wet clay field with a hundred cars on it is a field nobody can use again this year, so we shut and we're sorry
We would much rather turn you away on the phone — Thirty seconds beats an hour in the car and a disappointed back seat. Nobody has ever been annoyed at being told not to come
The answer is often "come Thursday" — Weekday mornings are the best picking of the week by a distance, and almost nobody does it. If you can, do
Where we post it — One channel, updated the night before and again if something changes. It's linked in the footer and it's the only place we update
What's ready when
Windows rather than dates, and they roll forward with the template. Put your own in before publishing and give a fortnight rather than a day.
What's ready when
- Sat, Aug 29 · 5:27 AMStrawberries open the season📍 The bottom field
About four weeks, and the first ten days are the best of them. Everybody comes for these and they are the ones most likely to be picked out on a Saturday.
- Sat, Sep 26 · 5:27 AMRaspberries and currants
A longer, gentler window and much less crowded. Raspberries pick fast and travel badly, so bring something rigid rather than a bag.
- Wed, Oct 28 · 4:27 AMPlums, and the wasps arrive📍 The top orchard
Three weeks if we're lucky. This is the fruit everybody over-picks, and it is the reason the sheet further down this page exists.
- Wed, Nov 25 · 4:27 AMApples, then the last weekend📍 The old orchard
Six weeks, several varieties, and the only fruit here that keeps properly. The last weekend is announced a fortnight ahead rather than sprung on anybody.
Ten days is a variety's whole life — Not the crop's — the variety's. That's why the answer to "do you have Victorias?" changes inside a fortnight and why it's worth asking rather than assuming
Early and late varieties stretch the season — Which is the only reason apples run for six weeks. Within any one of those weeks you're picking something different
A cold May pushes everything back — And a warm one pulls it forward, and neither is predictable in March. Windows, not dates
What's here whenever we're open — Whatever is in the shed — jams, juice, and the seconds box. Always worth a look and always cheaper than picking
Early and late varieties stretch the season — Which is the only reason apples run for six weeks. Within any one of those weeks you're picking something different
A cold May pushes everything back — And a warm one pulls it forward, and neither is predictable in March. Windows, not dates
What's here whenever we're open — Whatever is in the shed — jams, juice, and the seconds box. Always worth a look and always cheaper than picking
Before you set off
Ring — Thirty seconds. It is the whole of this page's advice
Wellies, or old trainers — Even in August. The rows are never dry at nine in the morning
Rigid containers — Ice cream tubs, a tray, a cardboard box. Bags crush the bottom third of everything you pick
Something to drink — There's a tap and not much else. A hot row is hotter than it looks
Wellies, or old trainers — Even in August. The rows are never dry at nine in the morning
Rigid containers — Ice cream tubs, a tray, a cardboard box. Bags crush the bottom third of everything you pick
Something to drink — There's a tap and not much else. A hot row is hotter than it looks
When you arrive
Weigh in at the gate — Your empty containers, so you're only charged for fruit
Ask which row — Somebody will point. Picking where you were told is why there's fruit for the person after you
Eat as you go — Genuinely fine, and it's in the price. Children in particular should not feel they're getting away with something
Take less than you think — You can always come back to the row. Nobody ever has
Ask which row — Somebody will point. Picking where you were told is why there's fruit for the person after you
Eat as you go — Genuinely fine, and it's in the price. Children in particular should not feel they're getting away with something
Take less than you think — You can always come back to the row. Nobody ever has
Before you leave
Weigh out and pay at the gate — Cards and cash both, and the price is on the board
Get it out of the car boot — Fruit in a hot boot for an hour loses a day of life. It is the commonest way a good pick gets wasted
Tell us what's picked out — You've just walked the row and we haven't. It changes what we tell the next person on the phone
The seconds box — By the gate, cheap, and often better for jam than what you just picked
Get it out of the car boot — Fruit in a hot boot for an hour loses a day of life. It is the commonest way a good pick gets wasted
Tell us what's picked out — You've just walked the row and we haven't. It changes what we tell the next person on the phone
The seconds box — By the gate, cheap, and often better for jam than what you just picked
What it costs
Priced by weight, on a board at the gate — Per kilo, per fruit, and it doesn't change through the day or through the season. Put your own numbers on your own version and put them where people can see them before they start
Eating while you pick is fine and it's in the price — Within reason, and everybody knows what that means. We'd rather say it out loud than have a parent hissing at a four-year-old in a strawberry row
There's no entry fee — You can walk round, decide it's too hot, and go home having spent nothing. That happens and it's fine
Our containers or yours — Ours are free and we'd rather have yours. Either way you're weighed in empty first, so you never pay for the tub
Card works at the gate — And cash, and there's no minimum. The signal is poor and the machine has a battery and a stored connection, so it works anyway
It isn't always cheaper than the shop — Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't, and it should not be the reason to come. The reason is that it tastes different and it is a morning outside
Eating while you pick is fine and it's in the price — Within reason, and everybody knows what that means. We'd rather say it out loud than have a parent hissing at a four-year-old in a strawberry row
There's no entry fee — You can walk round, decide it's too hot, and go home having spent nothing. That happens and it's fine
Our containers or yours — Ours are free and we'd rather have yours. Either way you're weighed in empty first, so you never pay for the tub
Card works at the gate — And cash, and there's no minimum. The signal is poor and the machine has a battery and a stored connection, so it works anyway
It isn't always cheaper than the shop — Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't, and it should not be the reason to come. The reason is that it tastes different and it is a morning outside
You will pick too much
Everybody does. It is almost always the plums, and it is almost always because picking is more fun than stopping.
Pick for four days, not a fortnight — Soft fruit has a short and honest life. Four days of eating and one project is the amount that actually gets used
Freeze it the day you pick it — Not on Thursday when you feel guilty. Raspberries and currants freeze beautifully spread on a tray; strawberries turn to mush and are better cooked first
Plums are the trap — They ripen all at once, in the car, on the way home. Four kilos of plums is a weekend of work and it is the commonest regret of the season
The seconds box is better for jam — Riper, cheaper, and already picked. Buying jam fruit and picking eating fruit is what the people who come every year do
Jam is a bigger project than it sounds — Two hours, a lot of sugar, and jars you have to have already. Perfectly good — just don't decide on it in the car park
Give some away on the way home — A neighbour, the school gate, whoever is in. It stops being waste and starts being the nicest part of the day
Freeze it the day you pick it — Not on Thursday when you feel guilty. Raspberries and currants freeze beautifully spread on a tray; strawberries turn to mush and are better cooked first
Plums are the trap — They ripen all at once, in the car, on the way home. Four kilos of plums is a weekend of work and it is the commonest regret of the season
The seconds box is better for jam — Riper, cheaper, and already picked. Buying jam fruit and picking eating fruit is what the people who come every year do
Jam is a bigger project than it sounds — Two hours, a lot of sugar, and jars you have to have already. Perfectly good — just don't decide on it in the car park
Give some away on the way home — A neighbour, the school gate, whoever is in. It stops being waste and starts being the nicest part of the day
Children, dogs, wasps and mud
The four things that actually decide whether a family has a good morning, and the four things nobody puts on a pick-your-own page.
Pushchairs go down the grass rows — Not between the fruit rows, which are narrow and rutted. A sling is easier than a buggy here and that's worth knowing before you pack the car
Dogs on leads, and not in the fruit rows at all — On the grass, yes, welcome. In among the strawberries, no — it's a food crop and that's the whole reason
Wasps arrive with the plums — Late season, and they're interested in the fruit rather than in you. Move to a different row instead of swatting, and don't let a child drink from an open can
Toilets are by the gate, and that's the only pair — Ten minutes' walk from the top orchard. Worth a stop before you set off up there with a five-year-old
Mud is a fact of the whole season — Even in August, in the first two hours. There is no version of this where the shoes come home clean
Sunhats, water and about ninety minutes — That's the realistic length of a good pick with children. Beyond that everybody is hot and somebody is crying, usually in that order
Dogs on leads, and not in the fruit rows at all — On the grass, yes, welcome. In among the strawberries, no — it's a food crop and that's the whole reason
Wasps arrive with the plums — Late season, and they're interested in the fruit rather than in you. Move to a different row instead of swatting, and don't let a child drink from an open can
Toilets are by the gate, and that's the only pair — Ten minutes' walk from the top orchard. Worth a stop before you set off up there with a five-year-old
Mud is a fact of the whole season — Even in August, in the first two hours. There is no version of this where the shoes come home clean
Sunhats, water and about ninety minutes — That's the realistic length of a good pick with children. Beyond that everybody is hot and somebody is crying, usually in that order
Ask about a visit
For anything that isn't "are you open today" — that one's a phone call. Groups, large amounts, access, and school visits all go here.
Ask about a visit
Access questions get a proper answer rather than a reassurance. Parts of this field are genuinely difficult and we'll tell you which, so you can decide rather than find out.
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.