Pumpkins are in, and the far field is open
Carving pumpkins, eating squash and a few odd gourds, from this Wednesday (sample).
Hollow Lane Farm, Springfield (sample)
Apples, pumpkins and the last raspberries are ready to pick
Pick-your-own fields are open Wednesday to Sunday, 9:00–16:00. The farm shop is open every day except Monday (sample).
Crop
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Asparagus: April to June
Strawberries: June to September
Raspberries: July to October
Plums: August to September
Apples: August to November
Pumpkins: September to October
Kale: January to February and September to December
Leeks: January to March and October to December
Picking calendar for Hollow Lane Farm (sample). The orange line is this month; bold crops are ready now. Seasons move a week or two with the weather.
The farm shop
Everything on the shelves was picked here this morning or made by a neighbour within ten miles. Pay by card or cash.
Monday
Closed
Tuesday to Saturday
9:00–17:30
Sunday
10:00–16:00
Pick-your-own fields
Wed–Sun, 9:00–16:00
Opening times (sample). Closed 25 December to 2 January.
On the shelves this week
- Apples: Cox, Bramley and Egremont Russet
- Pumpkins and winter squash
- Kale, leeks and the first parsnips
- Free-range eggs from the next farm along
- Apple juice pressed on the farm
Pick your own
Take a tray from the barn, follow the signs to today’s fields and pay by weight on the way out.
Apples and pears
$2.40 a kg
Raspberries
Autumn canes, until the first frost
$9.00 a kg
Pumpkins
From $3 each
Trays and punnets
$1, or bring your own
Example prices. Fields change with the weather: the board at the gate shows what is open today.
Weekly veg boxes
A box of whatever is ready that week, picked on the day it leaves the farm. Pause or cancel by email any time.
Small box
For one or two: six or seven kinds of vegetable
$18 a week
Medium box
For three or four, with a bag of potatoes
$26 a week
Large box
For five or more, or for people who cook a lot
$34 a week
Fruit bag, added to any box
$8 a week
Example prices. Free delivery within ten miles on Tuesdays and Fridays, or collect from the shop.
In this week's box
- Kale or chard
- Leeks
- Potatoes
- Carrots with their tops
- A butternut squash
- Red onions
- Apples, in the medium and large boxes
Picked on Monday and Thursday (sample).
How we grow
We farm 60 acres (sample): two fields of vegetables, an orchard and a strip of soft fruit along the lane. Most of what we grow is sold within five miles of the farm.
- No-dig beds for salads and herbs, so the soil stays full of life
- A four-year rotation on the field crops
- Hedges and wildflower margins round every field
- We spray only when a crop would otherwise be lost, and we write it on the shop board
School and group visits
Walk the fields with the people who farm them, pick something to take home and see where the food on your plate starts.
School visit, half a day
Teachers and helpers free
$6 a pupil
Group farm walk with tea
Groups of 10 to 30
$9 a person
Tractor and trailer ride
$2 a person
Example prices. Visits run from April to October, Tuesday to Thursday.
Farm days
Open days through the year. Entry to the farm is free; you pay for what you pick (sample).
Sat 25 Oct
Apple Day
Juice pressing, tasting thirty varieties and a cider-vinegar stall. 10:00–16:00.
Sat 1 and Sun 2 Nov
Pumpkin weekend
Pick from the field, carving tables in the barn. 9:00–16:00.
Sat 6 Dec
Christmas trees and wreaths
Choose a tree from the plantation; we net it and carry it to the car. 9:00–15:00.
No booking
Sun 12 Apr
Lambing and asparagus Sunday
Our neighbours bring their ewes and lambs; first asparagus in the shop. 10:00–15:00.
No booking
Dates (sample).
From the farm diary
Why the orchard has so many kinds of apple
Twenty-two varieties, picked from August to November (sample).
Sowing next year’s salad in October
Why the greenhouse is full of seed trays while the fields are being cleared (sample).
Find the farm
Hollow Lane Farm (sample)
Hollow Lane, Springfield
- Ten minutes from Springfield centre, past the church and over the ford
- Free parking in the yard; the field car park opens on farm days
- Bus 31 stops at the end of the lane on weekdays
- Wellies or boots in wet weather: the field paths are grass
