Day Out At Pick-Your-Own Crockford Bridge Farm

My daughter has a new obsession. It starts early in the morning and goes on all day, whenever she spies our raspberry bush in garden. It’s fruit picking. Ever since the wonderfully hot weather appeared, one of the first things she asks (after breakfast, of course) is if she can go in the garden to see if there is any fruit ready to pick. Such a simple pleasure but one which is full of delight and excitement.

With my lonely strawberry bush looking already bare and the raspberries still pretty green, I needed to feed this new obsession (literally) so I set out to find one of the nearest Pick-Your-Own farms so she could collect fruit until her heart is content.

We settled upon Crockford Bridge Farm – apparently the nearest Pick-Your-Own to London. A friend recommended it, with the promise of a playground, soft play and picnic area – I felt this was all the critera I needed for a day out with my two year old daughter, Mrs T.

Upon arrival, my husband thought it a good idea to get an ice cream from the shop selling Gelateria Danieli ice creams. Of course, we had to get Mrs T one too. Cue a huge, sticky, chocolatey mess on hands, face and all down her dress – hurrah!

Once sorted with some empty punnets from the shed-like shop, we set out on our short walk to the strawberry field. There were PLENTY to pick – early July is perfect strawberry picking time!

As a family, we all enjoyed picking the strawberries  and seeing who could find the biggest ones. We explained to Mrs T that she should try to pick the dark red ones. She had a great time finding them.

And she was very pleased with herself when she discovered and picked them!

It wasn’t long before our boxes were bulging – check out our haul!

We then went to find some raspberry bushes – which were in another field. The fruit wasn’t quite as plentiful but there were still enough to keep us going.

Mrs T found the ones on the bottom branches and could spy some hidden away from my view and I picked them from the upper branches. A perfect team! Every time Mrs T discovered one, she would cry out to me, very excitedly: “I’ve found one, I’ve found one. Mummy, I’ve found one.” Daddy had gradually lost interest  and wandered off (he’s clearly not a big raspberry fan).

With enough raspberries to keep us going for a few days, we headed back to the shop and the playground (we weren’t going to get away without that getting used).

Although Mrs T wanted a picnic at one of the tables, we hadn’t brought any food, so we went to the garden centre just next door (so handy) for some lunch and a bit of plant buying. Mrs T found the soft play…

After dragging her away, we headed home, looking forward to eating some scummy fresh strawberries and raspberries. Mrs T had a fab time but next time we go, I’ll make sure I wear my trainers rather than my flip-flops… farms really are dirty places!

VERDICT

Cranford Bridge Farm has a perfect set up for children: PYO, a playground AND soft play – need I say anymore? Pick-Your-Own is a fantastic activity for children, helping to educate them about the origin of vegetables and fruit and for them take an active part in collecting them. Mrs T loved it! We will definitely go back again. We only spend a couple of hours there (including lunch) so it isn’t a time consuming activity. I actually found it incredibly relaxing too – being out in quiet and fresh air, with just the sounds of nature. A good break from life in London. We just had to pay for the fruit and that was pretty reasonable: £6.50 for two punnets of strawberries and £5 for the raspberries.

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