Rectory Farm PYO
Forty-five acres of Oxfordshire farmland where you pick everything yourself, from strawberries warm off the field in June to pumpkins in October.
Forty-five acres of Oxfordshire farmland where you pick everything yourself, from strawberries warm off the field in June to pumpkins in October.
Rectory Farm is a family-run pick-your-own on the edge of Oxford, in the village of Stanton St John, and it runs on the simple premise that nothing tastes better than something you picked yourself twenty minutes ago. The main site covers around forty-five acres of soft fruit and vegetables, with a further thirty acres of asparagus grown nearby. When we go it is for the particular pleasure of crouching in the strawberry beds on a warm morning, the children filling their punnets faster than they fill the basket, and coming home with far more fruit than we can reasonably eat before it turns.
What is ready to pick depends entirely on the time of year, which is half the fun of it. The season opens in spring with asparagus and rhubarb, then rolls into the summer picking that most people come for. By June and July the strawberry and raspberry rows are in full swing, joined by gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, broad beans, artichokes and courgettes. Late summer brings blackberries and sweetcorn, and by October the fields turn over to pumpkins for the half-term crowd. It is worth checking what is actually in season before you set out, because the picking list shifts week to week and a wet spell can close a crop for a few days.
The farm recommends coming early in the morning when the fruit is cool and will last longer once picked, which suits us anyway as it leaves the afternoon free. Children are well looked after here: there is a woodland play area and plenty of space to roam between the rows, so it works as a morning out rather than a quick errand. Do check the farm's own website or social media before you travel, as picking days, opening hours and any weekend booking arrangements change through the season.
Once we have picked our fill there is a café on site, recently run in partnership with Meet Point Coffee, doing proper coffee, homemade cake, soups and a seasonal menu that leans towards Indian street food. It is a good spot to sit down while the children finish an ice cream. The farm shop is open from March through December and sells the farm's own produce alongside local cheeses, dairy and baked goods, so even on a day when the picking is thin you can come away with something for supper. It is the sort of morning that does not need much else: pick, eat, and buy a pot of their jam on the way out.
The farm is at Rectory Farm, Stanton St John, OX33 1HF, about forty minutes from Well Cottage on the far side of Oxford. There is plenty of free parking, with disabled spaces near the top of the car park by the shop. Weekend tickets are sometimes needed during the busiest summer weeks, so it is worth a quick look at the website the day before rather than turning up and finding it full. Hours and picking can also change at short notice in very hot or wet weather. If you are coming for pumpkins in October it is one of the better fields in the area, and it pairs nicely with a walk on the Otmoor nature reserve a few minutes further east, or a visit to Waterperry Gardens on the way home.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.