After 13 weeks of homeschooling and lockdown at home, this week I headed out on some socially distanced outdoors activities with the girls at an attempt to bring back a bit of normality. After seeing some great reviews on social media, we headed along for some socially distanced strawberry picking at Manor Farm Fruits in Hints, Staffordshire (just outside of Tamworth). I had NEVER been strawberry picking in my life, despite them being my favourite fruit in the world and I think I was even more excited than the girls were!
Manor Farm Fruits has been family run by the Clarke family for over three generations and is one of Staffordshires longest established fruit growers. With over 55 acres of soft fruit, there are over 12 acres of pick your own fields, currently growing strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries.
How does social distancing work at Manor Farm Fruits?
Due to COVID-19, Manor Farm Fruits have had to make some small changes to the way they work. Firstly they have the Strawberry Drive Thru’ – simply drive up to the kiosk and make a contactless payment for your fruit and a member of the Manor Farm Fruits team will pop it into your boot.
Alternatively the Pick Your Own fields are now open. You must book a time slot in advance (they are releasing three days at a time) and can have up to 4 people per booking. You will then be emailed your tickets which come with a scannable barcode which you must show at the kiosk on arrival.
Our experience of Strawberry Picking at Manor Farm Fruits
We booked a slot for 11.30am on a Tuesday morning and were lucky that the weather was very kind to us – it was a glorious day and the sun was shining. I had never been to Manor Farm Fruits before, but when we arrived, parking was very clearly marked, with directions for those who were coming to collect from the Strawberry Drive Thru’ which did have a small queue of cars and seemed very efficient for those who are more comfortable with a collection option.
There was a small queue of people waiting for the pick your own outside the kiosk, but everyone was adhering to the social distancing guidelines and spaced at least 2 metres apart. I didn’t feel concerned at all, despite having not left my house at all for 13 weeks bar a trip to Baddesley Clinton the day before.
When we reached the kiosk, we simply had to show our tickets to the lady behind the desk (which could be done from a distance) and she scanned the tickets. Payment for punnets is in advance, and there is the option of a 1kg punnet for £6 or a larger 2kg bucket for £12. The larger buckets looked amazing, but the girls really wanted to have one each to hold, so we opted for the two 1kg punnets instead.
As payment is taken in advance, you do not need to return to get your fruit weighed as you may have done in previous years, meaning that exiting the fields is really efficient. It is also worth noting that the entry fee is not refundable off the cost of the fruit this year which I believe it has been previously, as they have had to reduce the number of visitors due to the current climate. I felt this was completely fair enough, as after all a £2 fee per person isn’t a huge amount to pay for the experience.
Once we had collected our empty punnets, we were directed to the hand sanitising station where we were asked to wash our hands before entering the fields. We were then directed to a specific ‘lane’ or row of strawberries where we had it entirely to ourselves so we didn’t have to worry about people coming towards us or in the opposite direction. Obviously there are potentially people in the lanes either side of you, but the team are conscious of this and try and avoid people being in close lanes at the same time, and they are long enough that this can be managed relatively easily. We didn’t have anyone next to us at any point during the time we were there.
The girls had an absolute ball picking the fruit from the hanging plants, and they were just the right height that even Neve who is 3 was able to grab them herself and pop them in the punnet. It did take a while for Neve to grasp the fact that she shouldn’t squeeze too hard when trying to pull them off the plant (resulting in a few squished ones along the way) but before we knew it we had a huge punnet full of beautifully bright red strawberries.
There were a mix of sizes, some bigger than others, but the colours were so bright and vivid that I was salivating at the prospect!!
There are signs up in the fields reminding people that due to the current climate you shouldn’t eat the strawberries or fruit you pick along the way, but instead take it home and wash it throughly first. The girls were pretty good at resisting, but I have to admit it took every ounce of my being not to shove one in my mouth on the way around, particularly as I hadn’t had breakfast rushing out straight after my morning shift at work!
To leave the fields, we were directed to walk around the back and down the (wider) side of the field by a hedge, before washing our hands again on the way out.
I was really impressed with the set up at Manor Farm Fruits, the reality is that you won’t be there the full hour you are allocated; as we probably only spent about 15/20 mins in the field before our punnets were full. My only regret from the day was not ordering some raspberries too, as I clocked someone else’s and they were ginormous and looked amazing. Something to bear in mind!
Overall, they’ve put a lot of thought into making this work despite the restrictions; and I felt comfortable that the elements they had put in place kept us safe and socially distanced during our visits.
And the strawberries? Well, not only will I be having them for virtually every meal for the next week, but they taste bloody amazing.
Thanks Manor Farm Fruits – a good job well done! 🙂 You can check availability for fruit picking slots here.
For more seasonal fun in Autumn – check out Pumpkin picking in staffordshire.
Lucy x
(Visit paid for myself)Â
