Midlands farmers join forces to help families experience the best ‘farm to fork’ journey
Visitors to an award-winning family farm attraction are getting the chance to experience their very own ‘harvest’ – picking fresh veggies from the field, taking them home and cooking delicious recipes for the family table.
PLAY@ Lower Drayton Farm, based just of Junction 13 of the M6 in Staffordshire, is holding a Harvest Hoedown.
Richard Bower, who farms the 750-acre beef and arable farm in Staffordshire alongside his father Ray, has joined forces with foodie influencer and farmer Milly Fyfe, who shares simple recipes based on seasonal British ingredients via her ‘No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents’ platform to come up with recipes for the vegetables visitors take home.
The pair, who are Love British Food ambassadors, first met through Young Farmers and, with both now running their own farms while raising young families, are passionate about sharing their knowledge on food and farming.
During their September PLAY@ visit, families will have the chance to take a tractor trailer ride out to the field where they can pick their own crop of seasonal veg – including beetroot, leeks, potatoes and red onions.
The Harvest Hoedown also includes a ‘hoedown’ kids’ disco, scarecrow trail and seeds to take home & grow, alongside the attraction’s huge indoor playbarns, outdoor adventure play and animal talks and interactions. Visitors are also encouraged to bring along donations of store cupboard ingredients for a collection to be donated to local food banks.
When they get home, they can access a series of Milly’s recipes to use up the farm fresh vegetables they have picked.
Richard said: "There’s huge interest in all things farming at present – thanks to TV shows like Clarkson’s Farm and This Farming Life. Sharing our knowledge, experience and values as food producers is a big part of what we do throughout the year in our PLAY@ attraction and the new Harvest Hoedown event brings it full circle, with visitors getting hands-on picking veg then taking it home to cook.
“This is the first time we’ve ever grown beetroot, leeks and red onions on the farm – thanks to the help of the latest technology in the form of a Farm Droid, which autonomously sows and weeds crops in a sustainable way, and which visitors will also learn all about. We’re really excited to work with Milly and tap into her skill for creating great, nutritious family recipes that are quick and simple to prepare – and can’t wait to try the recipes ourselves at home!”
Milly added: "It's been fantastic to work with Farmer Richard and the team on the Harvest Hoedown campaign. Being able to pick seasonal vegetables straight from the field, prepare at home and enjoy with your family is a wonderful way of tasting incredible freshness and discovering the field to fork journey.
"I'm passionate about promoting scratch cooking and reducing our reliance on ultra processed food, keeping food miles low and with nutritious veggies like those at Lower Drayton Farm, what could be better!”
The Harvest Hoedown event will run Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday until Sunday, September 29.
To find out more and book tickets head to www.playatthefarm.co.uk/harvesthoedown/
