Every October when we go to the Lake District we drive past Brockbushes Farm and every year I say to Thom "Can we go strawberry picking in the summer?" We usually never get around to it, but for the first time last summer we actually went.......too late! There was almost nothing left *crying face*.
So I wasn't going to make the same mistake this year so today we headed along to Brockbushes Farm for some fresh air and Strawberry picking. I am such a big kid and get so excited about doing stuff like this.
Brockbushes Farm is easy to find and is located on the A69 just before Corbridge and Hexham. It is a Farm Shop and Tea Room, but the main attractions are the vast fields where you can 'Pick Your Own'. They have huge amounts (at the right time of year) of strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, plums and more.
The Farm shop itself sells lots of fruit and vegetables which are amazing quality, I wish it was closer to my house as I would definitely use this instead of going to the supermarket. The tea room was really busy when we were there so we didn't stop but having a quick look at the counter of cakes we will surely be back to try those! They also have a garden centre section with plants and accessories.
The price for the Pick Your Own is £3 per tub, and they are an ample size. You then get £1 of that back when you are finished. You then just pay by the weight of your fruit you have gathered. It's much cheaper than a supermarket and 10 times more fun!
We made our way around all the fields, firstly moving slowly up and down a strawberry patch. It was really busy and I was jealously looking into other people's jam-packed (pun intended) tubs as they passed thinking there was going to be nothing for us, but I was wrong! You just have to look really closely under the bushes and you find the bright red goodness.
We headed to the raspberries next, which totally reminded me of being a kid. I recall going on bike rides and there being what seemed like miles of raspberry bushes. We would eat as many as we could and our mouths would be stained bright red. I do hope a grown-up told us they were safe to eat as that could have been dangerous if we just went around eating brightly coloured berries off public footpath bushes!
I am not sure if we were picking things that weren't ripe enough but we both got excited filling up our tub, it's funny how quickly it starts filling up and you don't think "how much is this all going to cost?" or "do I actually need this much fruit?" as it is just good fun.
Once we had exhausted all of the fields and our tub was getting a little hard to carry, we made our way back to the weighing hut. All our fruit came to £7.05 which I know sounds a lot but we got a crazy amount of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries which we can freeze and use in our smoothies. I might even be really 'housewifey' and make some jam!
I highly recommend popping along to Brockbushes Farm, its a really nice couples day out and you don't have to have kids to enjoy it. It's also great for families and getting kids interested in eating fruit.
The fruit has different months when they are at their best so have a look at their website for all the details. www.brocksbushes.co.uk.
Monday to Sunday
Farm Shop: 9.30am to 6pm
Tea Room: 9.30am to 5.30pm
Last entry into PYO fields is 5pm
I have a whole section on The Life Bath dedicated to Great Days Out for Couples so be sure to check that out as well.
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