FARM VISITS
The Soil Association (0117 3145000; www.soilassociation.org/farmvisits)
has more than 80 organic farms, where 750,000 people a year find out
first-hand about natural farming methods, walk a farm trail and stock up
with the same day’s harvest at the farm shop. “We all know what food looks
like in the shops, but some of us are less familiar with how it got there,”
says Rupert Aker, the education officer at the Soil Association. Many farms
run open days and welcome school visits.
FOOD TRAILS
Devon is blazing the way with food trails. These routes can be driven or
cycled and allow visitors to take in some of the county’s (and the
country’s) best produce at source, far from the supermarket crowds.
Sharpham’s vineyard, Quickes’ dairy farm, the Oyster Shack, South Devon
chilli farm, and fêted gastropubs all feature on the routes. For more
information, Discover Devon (0870 6085531; www.discoverdevon.com)
or Hotel Barcelona, Exeter (01392 281000; www.aliashotels.com).
Slow Food regional groups, or convivia, have excellent connections with a
nexus of local food producers. As well as hosting regular tastings they can
recommend informal food trails and the best places for farm-gate sales. Slow
Food UK (0800 9171232; www.slowfood.com).
Other places offer food trails during their annual food festival or “in
season”. Ludlow, for example, has its famous sausage trail (01584 873957; www.foodfestival.co.uk),
Hereford has its Cider Rider cycle route (01432 260621) and Kent has Sheep
Ahoy! and Apple Source trails (01271 336020; www.kenttourism.co.uk).
A new book Deliciously Dales (£7.99; 01756 748 627; www.feastnet.net)
features six food trails across the Yorkshire Dales. Each takes in a range
of shops and dining outlets that feature local produce and are run by
passionate producers.
FRUIT FARMS
At Ringden Farm, in Flimwell, near Hurst Green in East Sussex (01580 879385),
they press fabulous apple juice throughout the season from 27 varieties,
including red pippin, russet and spartan. You can visit the farm, walk
around the orchards and watch the juice being made, then taste it. Pear
juice (from five different varieties) is made from the end of September.
Call ahead.
Traditional Kentish cider is the speciality of the Macey family at Pawley
Farm, Faversham (01795 532043), along with apple juice. The cider is made to
a 200-year-old recipe with eating and cooking apples. You can see the
equipment and, in autumn, watch the cider being made if you call ahead. Also
in Faversham, Brogdale Horticultural Trust (01795 535286; www.brogdale.org)
is home to the National Fruit Collections, the largest collection of fruit
trees in the world. Spread over 150 acres of orchard, there are more than
2,300 varieties of apple alone, plus 550 of pear and 350 of plum. The
orchards are at their best in late summer/autumn, but you can visit at any
time of year for special guided walks.
BUFFALO FARM
Nick Griffin and his family keep 16 Indian water buffalo on their farm near
Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, (01525 220256; www.buffalogold.com)
and like nothing better than for people to “come and see the herds and make
a fuss of the calves”. There is a newly opened visitors’ centre and shop,
where you can buy the meat, milk (extolled for its low cholesterol and its
suitability for people with cows’ milk allergies), mozzarella and ice-cream.
DAIRY FARMS
In Tattenhall see how Cheshire Farm’s award-winning ice-creams are made, then
choose from seasonal flavours such as rhubarb and stem ginger and honeycomb.
There’s a viewing gallery to watch the cows milking (01829 770446; www.cheshirefarmicecream.co.uk).
If you prefer your farm entertainment more along theme- park lines then take
the children to Dairyland Farm World, near Newquay, Cornwall (01872 510246; www.dairylandfarmworld.com).
It has a huge span of activities, including Clarabelle’s space-age orbiter,
where 120 cows are milked every afternoon; the Cornish Heritage Centre
(including the tractor house and smithy); and an alternative energy centre,
where you can see water, wind and solar power in action.
The farm trail at Low Sizergh Farm, near Kendal, Cumbria (015395 60426; www.lowsizerghbarn.co.uk),
a multi-award-winning food emporium, highlights the protection and promotion
of wildlife and how to farm organically. At 3.45pm visitors can watch the
cows being milked
from large viewing windows in the tearooms, and taste cheeses and ice-cream
made from the farm’s organic milk and eggs. Crops such as onions, garlic,
broccoli, lettuce and broad beans are delivered from the fields to the shop
in the 17th-century barn by wheelbarrow. “Visitors learn about animal
welfare standards and the life cycle on a farm,” says Alison Park, the
manager of Sizergh.
MILLS
Sarre Windmill in Kent (01843 847573) is one of Britain’s few working
commercial windmills. Eight miles from Canterbury, it processes locally
grown wheat into flour for bakers in the area. You can watch the flour being
ground, then sample home-made bread and cakes, made with the flour, in the
tearooms, along with local preserves. Groups that want to take a proper tour
should phone ahead. Open 11am-5pm until September 30, and 11am-4pm during
winter; adults £2.50, children £1.50.
VINEYARDS
Denbies, in Dorking, Surrey (01306 876616; www.denbiesvineyard.co.uk),
is England’s largest vineyard and visits here include a dramatic 360-degree
surround-vision cinematic tour of the winery, wine tasting and train tours
of the cellars and vineyard. Tours operate Monday to Saturday, 11am-4pm;
Sunday noon-4pm. Adults £7.25, children £3.
At Three Choirs, in Newent, Gloucestershire (01531 890223; www.threechoirs.com),
wander around the vineyard before visiting the winery and brewery. Open
daily 9am-5pm; adults £3.50, children free. Guided tours from Monday to
Saturday at 2.30pm, £4.50.
At Tenterden Vineyard, in Small Hythe, Kent (01580 763033), visitors can see
the vineyard, winery, herb garden and plant centre, and children can have
fun in the play area.
SEA FISHING
Think of fish, think of Padstow. You could eat your way around Rick Stein’s
establishments, including his latest fish and chip shop, or you could go out
to sea with the family and fish yourself. Skipper Lee Wicks, of the Angling
Centre (01841 532762), takes up to 12 people mackerel fishing for about two
hours. Ed Schliffke, the centre’s boss, specialises in fishing for bass but
is best known for his shoreline fishing trips, rambling around the rocks and
beaches.
“I enjoy taking the children out because it’s a whole new world for most of
them,” he says. Book through the centre, or call him direct on 07929 233902.
Tours cost from £30-£40.
URBAN FOODIE TOURS
Gastro Tours, London (020-8376 2847; www.celiabrooksbrown.com)
The best way to buy at source in the city is to visit farmers’ markets or
take an insider’s good food tour. Celia Brooks Brown, the American cookery
writer, leads guided tasting trails around Borough Market, Marylebone and
Portobello Road. She rounds off tours by cooking up the morning’s market
haul for lunch.
FORAGING
Peter Jordan runs mushroom- picking excursions in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk,
and across Norfolk and Hampshire. One-day excursions (£50) include an
introductory talk about varieties and harvesting techniques, a wild-
mushroom lunch and supervised picking (01502 722429; www.tastymushroompartnership.co.uk).
The Wildlife Trusts also organises fungi-picking excursions (www.wildlifetrusts.org);
The National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk)
holds educational walks but you cannot take the mushrooms home, and English
Heritage emphasises hunting for rare species on its fungi-spotting walks
(0870 3331181; www.english-heritage.org.uk).
Forget the shops, professional forager Fergus Drennan, “a vegetarian who eats
roadkill”, leads days out and courses in foraging for wild foods and seaweed
on the coast in Kent. (0790 4801047; www.wildmanwildfood.co.uk).
