A family farm attraction has teamed up with a foodie influencer to offer visitors the chance to experience their very own ‘harvest’.
PLAY@ Lower Drayton Farm, based just outside Penkridge, has joined forces Milly Fyfe, who shares simple recipes based on seasonal British ingredients via her No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents platform.
The initiative will mean visitors can pick fresh seasonal vegetables such as beetroot and potatoes from the field, take them home and cook them using Milly’s recipes.
Milly and Richard Bower, who farms the 750-acre beef and arable farm alongside his father Ray, first met through Young Farmers and are both Love British Food ambassadors who are running their own farms while raising young families.
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.”
Farmer Milly, from Northamptonshire, added: “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 also includes a ‘hoedown’ kids’ disco, scarecrow trail and seeds to take home and grow, alongside the farm’s usual host of attractions.
Visitors are also encouraged to bring along donations of store cupboard ingredients for a collection to be donated to local food banks.
