Open Farm Sunday 7 June at Apley Farm Shop

For the fourth year running, Apley Farm Shop is taking part in Open Farm Sunday on 7 June – less than 2 weeks away. It’s a national event organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming). It’s another free Apley event focusing on food, fun & farming when customers can get a better understanding of where their food comes from & chat with our own Farm Manager Adrian Joynt (photographed here with Francis). It’s also a chance to chat to our gamekeepers & our local deer expert.

As with nearly all our events, we have something for all ages. With informative display boards & demonstrations all over the site throughout the day, it’s all about bringing people closer to farming & food. It’s a great day out for families: there’s plenty for the children to do whilst parents get garden inspiration from the newly opened Apley Plant Centre.

In the Farm Shop, our in-house butcher Craig Whitehouse will be giving butchery demonstrations, Hops & Stagger Brewery (who are moving into an Apley building very close to the Farm Shop) will give beer brewing demonstrations & in the Courtyard, try your hand at wood turning with local woodland artist Neil Mapes. Children can stroke & feed the many animals at Scotty’s Animal Park, plant a pumpkin seed, make a scarecrow, race a space hopper, wang a welly, bowl a skittle, race a pig, climb the straw bales & hop the hopscotch.

Enjoy an Apley Estate beef burger from the All-Day barbecue, a cold beer in the Hops & Stagger Brewery beer tent & some local Churchfields icecream, all al fresco in the Courtyard. Or if you prefer a traditional Sunday roast, enjoy two courses for £12.45 in the Creamery Cafe. Booking is advisable – just email creamery@apleyfarmshop.co.uk or phone 01952 730 345 (ext 2).

In the adjacent field, there will be a modern & vintage farm machinery display, including a steam traction engine & Apley’s own huge John Deere combine harvester, with its extra wide cutting head, making harvesting the corn quicker than ever.

Pick up all your picnic ingredients from the Farm Shop & head off for a quiet picnic on the Skylark Nature Trail. It’s a 45 minute walk, with benches to rest on & information boards to help you spot the nature around you.