PYO - pick your own

all over!

We've said goodbye to our last PYO customer of the summer. Thank you everyone who visited us, picking loads of strawberries, cherries and raspberries.

The great success of the season was that so many of you brought your own containers, saving hundreds of plastic punnets. If that was you - bravo!

PYO plums

In previous years we have opened just for two weekends at the end of August and beginning of September for plum picking. We regret that this year is isn't very plummy! The crop isn't sufficiently heavy for us to welcome you in for plum picking. We're really sorry if you were looking forward to some homemade Victoria plum jam. Fingers crossed for 2020!

PYO cherries

PYO strawberries

PYO raspberries

Well done to many of you who are now bringing your own containers to pick into. Great for reducing plastic use! Please check into the hut first so that we can weigh your own box, if necessary.
Regret that we cannot refund the £1 punnet fee on empty punnets that are grubby - they must be clean and unused.
And finally, remember that this is an opportunity to pick & pay for fruit, not to eat fruit!
Pick - pay - eat is the order of play today!

Plenty of beautiful, ripe cherries are also available ready-picked from our shop.

Check into the Pick Your Own hut - on the opposite side of the main road from the shop. Please take a moment to read the housekeeping & safety information that is displayed on the PYO hut. The hut may close if the weather is poor. No entry after 5pm, no dogs allowed as this is a food production area.

There is now a £1 charge per punnet at the beginning of your visit. This is to reduce the waste of plastic that has been a problem in previous years and is payable in advance of picking.
The £1 (or multiples of £1) will be refunded against the value of fruit picked upon return of the punnets to the hut.
If the value of fruit is less than the value of the punnets then there is no refund.
If you pick no fruit there is no refund of punnet cost.
No refund on empty, but soiled punnets.
It would be very helpful, and speed up the process if customers could bring £1 coins to cover cost of initial punnet purchase.
You are welcome to bring your own punnets or boxes for picking but they must be marked by a staff member in advance of picking.
If the PYO hut is unattended then the PYO is closed. No picking without a staff member present.

Watch this space for updated information about other crops that ripen during the summer:

Raspberries + Blackberries + Cherries + Plums + Damsons + Greengages

BE CAREFUL ON THE LADDERS - no children allowed to climb!

Our PYO season gets up and running with strawberries, then the cherries. Here's our guide about what is in season when. ‘Picking your own’ is a great experience – you may be having a party and want to serve fresh strawberries for the dessert, you may want a quantity of raspberries for jam-making or simply want to enjoy spending some time in the cherry orchard picking a rare treat – the Harwell cherry. It’s a particularly popular activity for children – so many of whom don’t know where their food comes from – this is a great way of letting them know!

Housekeeping

* Remember the PYO order: pick, pay, eat.

* You are required to pay for the fruit before eating it.

* We will not tolerate theft of fruit - if you refuse to pay for what you have picked we will call the police.

* Please follow the directions given by our staff or signage.

* We patrol the orchards & fields and monitor pickers' behaviour.

* Please do not allow your children, or anyone else in your party, to eat the fruit prior to purchase. We know that you are likely to try a small sample of the fruit, but this is not a free lunch!

* Sorry, no picnics in the orchards or fields.

* Do not allow your children to play with the fruit - we work hard to grow it and don't enjoy seeing it wasted.

* Please follow instructions regarding the use of ladders when picking cherries.

* Dogs are not allowed in the orchards or fields.

* We reserve the right to close the PYO fields because of bad weather or lack of fruit.

* PYO Health & Safety Advice.