Cherry picking at Loddington Farm
For Kate, fruit picking is also tied to some of her happiest childhood memories, spent gathering wild blackberries with her grandmother and turning them into crumbles and jams. Now she is creating similar traditions with her own children, from their annual strawberry-picking trips to a new summer favourite: cherry picking in Kent...
One of my favourite childhood memories is blackberry picking with my grandmother. We used to pick wild blackberries from the hedgerows where she lived and eat them on the spot or fill baskets to make into crumbles and jams.
As an adult, I want my children to have similar memories so we go fruit picking every summer and autumn.
Strawberry picking has become an annual tradition but this year our usual spot -Stanhill Farm-.announced they weren’t doing it this summer. So I decided to look further afield.
Even though cherries are my favourite fruit, I’d never been cherry-picking before this summer. I didn’t even know you could do it! But it turns out there are multiple venues across Kent offering PYO cherries in late June/early July.
Loddington Farm
We had a wonderful afternoon at Loddington Farm in Maidstone (@loddingtonfarm loddingtonfarm.co.uk) I hadn’t expected such an abundance or to enjoy cherry-picking so much -it felt wholesome, calming and therapeutic. And the taste! It was exquisite. I have honestly never tasted sweeter cherries and these cherries were plump and juicy.
There was a range of varieties to choose from including Kordia, Regina and Henriette.
Loddington Farm is free to visit but they charge by the punnet. Two punnets full to the brim cost us just under £20- it’s not cheap but we’d had a wonderful experience.
The kids enjoyed it so much that they asked to do it again. Sadly cherry- picking season is very short-lived and PYO cherries is now closed. However, there are a number of PYO farms in Kent offering PYO plums, apples, gooseberries and more.
What are you waiting for?!
By Kate Skelton
Images – Kate Skelton
