Popular Derbyshire farm shop Croots will be opening the gates to the farm on Sunday 11th June as part of a nationwide event to showcase British farming.
LEAF Open Farm Sunday is the farming industry’s national open day, with hundreds of farms throwing open their gates to give the public the chance to find out more about where their food comes from.
Among them is Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road near Duffield – the home of the award-winning Croots Farm Shop.
The farm will be open to visitors between 11am and 3.30pm on Sunday 11th June with tickets costing £2 for adults and £1 for children aged three to 12, with under threes free. They are available via the Croots Farm Shop website.
A range of activities, displays and events has been lined up to highlight what goes on behind the scenes of a farm, including sheep shearing, blacksmithing and a butchery demonstration.
There will also be Shire horse dray rides, self-guided farm walks, food stalls, competitions, machinery displays and a BBQ. Meet sheep and lambs, Shire horses and foals on a fun day out for all the family.
Kay Croot, who run Croots Farm Shop, and who grew up at Farnah House Farm where her parents Jim and Sue Yates have farmed since the 1960s, said: “Open Farm Sunday is the ideal opportunity for families to discover more about a working farm and where their food comes from. There’s the opportunity to get up close to animals and to see our farm machinery.
“We’ve taken part in Open Farm Sunday for several years and really enjoy meeting the visitors that it brings to the farm and to Croots Farm Shop. We’re in a beautiful spot overlooking the Ecclesbourne Valley and always love sharing more details of how we get food from farm to fork.”
A visitor survey carried out nationally by LEAF Open Farm Sunday showed that 85% of visitors said that visiting a farm had increased their trust in British farming and 98% had a better understanding of what sustainably produced food means. Some 96% said they felt more connected with farmers and now appreciate more the work that farmers do.
Croots Farm Shop is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays, while the café open hours are Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm and from 10am to 3.30pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
