We’ve rounded up some of the best places in Norfolk to pick your own this summer.
A.G. Meale & Sons
A.G. Meale & Sons in Stalham provides punnets or buckets for you to pick your own strawberries at £3.80 per kilogram, while plums, raspberries and runner beans will soon be ready. There may be a queue to enter the site to control the numbers for social distancing purposes, as staff prioritise the wellbeing of customers.
“Our pick-your-own strawberries are open at the moment and will have fruit for a good while yet,” says Louise Robinson from A G Meale & Sons. “We occasionally have to close and allow more fruit to ripen, so it is always best to check our website before travelling.”
Once you’re there, you can also pop in to Vera’s Coffee Shop onsite, which is open daily from 10am to 3pm serving sandwiches, jacket potatoes, bacon and sausage baps, cakes and savouries. Enjoy some food in the sunshine with outdoor seating on the patio and lawn.
www.agmeale.co.uk/pick-your-own
Drove Orchards
Located in Thornham in north Norfolk, Drove Orchards is open to the public for fruit picking this summer with safety measures to keep customers safe.
Plums and greengages are just coming into season, and over 60 different kinds of apple will hopefully be ripe by the end of August, including Egremont Russets, Discovery and Worcester varieties.
Orchard manager Nikki Fuller says: “We’d like to welcome customers old and new to spend the day at Drove Orchards. Picking your own fruit is a brilliant family activity which is getting lost on younger generations, so we want to encourage the kids to experience the different local varieties and teach them where fruit comes from.”
Drove Orchards produces its own apple juice and cider which you can sample at the farm shop, and while you’re at it why not grab a bite at Eric’s Pizza? There’s also fish and chips and an ice cream parlour opening August 1, so don’t miss out!
Fairgreen Farms
Who could resist picking some fresh Norfolk blueberries this summer? Fairgreen Farms in Middleton is the best place to do just that! The 2020 season kicked off on July 17 and you can snap up the superfood at £5 per kilogram until August Bank Holiday Weekend (harvest permitting).
Bea Knights from Fairgreen Farms says: “It’s great to do something relaxed and outdoorsy. Blueberry picking is a great activity to do with friends if you want to try something different and healthy.”
The farm is accepting contactless payment and you can register on the website now.
Hillfield Nursery and Farm Shop
In Thorpe-Next-Haddiscoe, just off the A143 on the way to Great Yarmouth, you’ll find Hillfield Nursery and Farm shop. It’s open for fruity fingered individuals looking to gorge on delicious Norfolk raspberries, with plums and apples coming in season soon.
Diane Beevor from Hillfield Nursery and Farm Shop says: “While our strawberries have now all gone for this season, you can still pick your own delicious raspberries or explore our well-stocked farm shop, filled with Norfolk produce.”
Oulton Broad
And if you would rather try your hand at foraging for wild fruit, the fields and marshes of Oulton Broad are perfect for some hedgerow harvesting. Search the bramble bushes for ripe blackberries and stock up on this most delicious of free fruits.
Dr Adrian Parton MBE, owner and chairman of Ivy House Country Hotel, says: “Reopening on August 1, Ivy House Country Hotel is perfectly placed, whether you are fruit picking on the Broad, visiting our neighbours at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, or seeking thrills at Africa Alive! and Pleasurewood Hills. We source all produce locally – so why not enjoy a scrumptious cream tea and jam in the 21 acres of grounds on the Broad?”
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