January
January is always a quiet time of year. With short days and unsettled weather, we don’t get as many outdoor jobs done as we would like. It’s a good opportunity to service equipment and tidy up around the farm.
February
The fruit bushes are pruned and winter ploughing is completed, ready for the next crop. Fruit and vegetable seeds and plants are ordered for the year ahead.
This month is all about getting everything ready for planting. General farm maintenance is carried out in preparation for the busy season to come lots of planning and paperwork!
We always enjoy seeing the spring lambs in our tenanted fields.
March
March remains a quiet time on the farm. It will be another month or so before our delicious asparagus is ready!
Both the local wildlife and the farm team look forward to some warm, dry, and sunny weather.
April
We really appreciate the start of spring the farm team don’t need quite so many layers when working in the fields!
We eagerly anticipate the return of the swallows and lapwings. The arrival of the first swallow is traditionally marked on the calendar each year.
Our asparagus season begins at the end of April.
Blackcurrants start showing signs of new growth, and there are usually sprigs of green appearing on the raspberries.
In recent years, we’ve transitioned from field-grown to tabletop strawberries, which is now the preferred method for most fruit growers. This approach gives us greater control over the crop and helps reduce our reliance on increasingly unpredictable weather.
Tabletop strawberries are also easier to pick, no bending required, making them more accessible for children and those with mobility issues. Best of all, this change allows us to extend our Pick Your Own season well into the summer holidays.
The tabletop systems are planted up with strawberry plants this month, ready for the upcoming Pick Your Own season. The plants arrive frozen and must be planted quickly before they thaw completely, this is a big job for the farm team!
May
Our homegrown, delicious asparagus is now ready and available to buy in the Farm Shop.
There’s usually a lot of wildlife activity in our hedgerows at this time of year.
May is another busy month for planting, this includes the maize maze and pumpkin crops. If the tabletop strawberries weren’t planted last month, they must be done now to be ready for Pick Your Own opening in June.
The farm team is typically busy with preparations: tidying the Pick Your Own Hut, checking the crops, and putting up signage.
June
The first of our homegrown strawberries are harvested and available in the Farm Shop. We open our Pick Your Own as soon as the crop is ready (timing depends on the weather).
Pumpkin plants are planted out this month for October’s PYO Pumpkins. The ground is prepared for them by ploughing, rotavating, spring tining, and rolling.
The maize maze is also planted in June, our farm team enjoy coming up with a new design each year!
July
Summer Pick Your Own usually ends this month. Once it closes, our full-time farm staff can take a well-earned break.
August
We tidy up after Pick Your Own and lock the hut up for another year. We then remove any perished strawberry plants from the table tops.
Raspberry bushes are pruned to remove this year’s growth, allowing next year’s growth to receive all the energy.
September
Preparations for Pick Your Own Pumpkins are well underway; this includes making props and finishing the maize maze.
October
In October, we open our fields for Pick Your Own Pumpkins and invite you to explore our Spooky Maize Maze. All of our pumpkins are grown right here on our family run farm in Holt. It’s a wholesome day out in the beautiful Welsh countryside.
November
After the busy pumpkin season, November is a quieter month.
The farm team begin ploughing fields, pruning fruit bushes, trimming hedges, and carrying out general winter maintenance.
December
Our homegrown holly will soon be available in the Garden Centre, but it’s always a race to pick it before the birds eat all the berries! By now, the winter ploughing and pruning is usually complete.
We end the year by planning for next year’s crops!
