Eee I eee I oh....old McHodgson's trip to the farm!

This week I'm feeling all at one with the land after being invited to spend an afternoon at Millets Farm Centre in Frilford, Oxfordshire. Not knowing quite what to expect when I got there, this was unlike any farm centre I'd been to before. There's a farm shop packed with fruit & veg grown on site, a selection of local produce sourced within 50 miles & an assortment of other foodie goodies. There's also a garden centre, restaurant, farm zoo, children's play area, trout fishing lake, 10 acres of woodland & wetland walks, a craft gallery & if that's not enough to keep you occupied there's 50 acres of pick your own fruit & veg...phew!

I was invited to explore the PYO fields & learn a little more about what it takes to successfully grow such a wide selection of crops. Our guides were the very experienced & knowledgeable Orlin Atanasov & Les Britten. Orlin looks after the fruit, Les looks after the veggies! I love PYO farms, so much so that I even visited one on my birthday last year...I know not very rock & roll. That said I'd never given much thought to the work that goes on behind the scenes to bring you all that lovely produce.

Now I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to gardening of any nature, I live in a flat and my basil plant is about as good as it gets! So I thought I'd share some of the interesting facts I picked up, along with some of my favourite photos of the day.

Teepee's for peas! A favourite fun pass time for Rooks is pulling up broad beans, they don't eat them, just pull 'em up!

Beautiful beetroot, one of my favourites, but unfortunately not ready for picking yet :-( Orlin & Les will choose several different varieties of one crop so that the season is staggered, bringing us more delicious produce for longer!

This is the start of the brussel sprout crop, this lot will be ready for Christmas. They have a bunny barrier round them, I always thought bunnies liked carrots not sprouts?

Rhubarb or beebarb as we call it in our family. Apparently it's like a weed & will completely take over your garden if you let it.

The most delicious raspberries I think I've ever tasted, these are a variety from Canada.

Succulent cherries, yum! I can see why they call the fruit of coffee plants cherries, these look almost identical!

I'd like to say a big thank you to Jo & the guys at Millets Farm for inviting me along, I had a lovely afternoon. If you find yourself in the Oxfordshire area, the centre is well worth a visit. Have a look at their website for details of special events. I'm intrigued to experience the Maize Maze which is due to open mid July! Take care, Rebecca x

I wonder how long the waiting list for a Windsor allotment is?