Harvest Hoedown at Lower Drayton Farm
Harvest Hoedown! Part of your PLAY@ adventure this September…
Harvest is the busiest time of year on the farm – and we’ve been working 24/7 since late summer to bring in our crops at the best possible time.
Our September ‘Harvest Hoedown’ event invites PLAY@ visitors to join in the harvest celebrations – getting hands-on with picking your own veggies to take home and cook, while learning more about the crops we harvest on the farm and where they go.
Fri 5, Sat 6, Sun 7, Mon 8, Fri 12, Sat 13, Sun 14, Mon 15, Fri 19, Sat 20, Sun 21 & Mon 22 September 2026
Pick it, cook it, eat it!
We’re joining forces with farmer and foodie influencer Milly Fyfe, who creates delicious, family friendly meals from seasonal British produce on her channels ‘No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents‘. Milly is coming up with recipes to cook from scratch at home using your own PYO ‘harvest’ that you can access online after your visit.
The event will also help us mark the annual celebration of British produce, British Food Fortnight, which runs from 26th September to 12th October 2025, and we’ll be collecting non-perishable food items to donate to local food banks to help those in need.
This year, you’ll also learn about the challenges we’ve faced as farmers with the unusually dry and hot weather and the impact it has had on our crops.
We’ll also be focusing on harvesting a different crop each week:
Week 1 – Fruit & foraging (Fri 5, Sat 6, Sun 7 & Mon 8 Sept)
This week we’ll be heading out to forage our hedgerows; picking apples and other wild-growing produce we find – like sloes and blackberries. On Saturday 6th we’ll be joined by Milly Fyfe who’ll lead our foraging expedition and will also invite visitors to get their collected apples pressed in her apple press for the freshest juice ever! You can then take home your foraged fruits to create Milly’s delicious apple cake recipe!
Week 2 – Beetroot & Sweetcorn (Fri 12, Sat 13, Sun 14 & Mon 15 Sept)
Week two will be all about the beet(root)! Pick delicious, fresh beetroot and sweetcorn from the fields – when you get home why not try Milly’s quick and easy recipe for pickled beetroot? The sweetcorn is delicious on the cob – or fried up in quick and easy fritters.
Week 3 – Potato Patch week (Fri 19, Sat 20, Sun 21 & Mon 22 Sept)
Who doesn’t love the humble spud – roasted, mashed, boiled, chipped, we love them any way! Pull on your wellies and dig your own spuds in our potato patch this week. Last year, we had visitors say they were the best potatoes they’d ever tasted – especially when they followed Milly’s super-simple Potato Wedges recipe!
Your Harvest Hoedown experience will include:
- Farm Trailer Ride to PYO produce
- PYO Veg all part of your ticket price
- Delicious recipe ideas to cook at home from Milly Fyfe of No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents
- Seeds to take home & grow
- Food Bank collection
PLUS all the usual PLAY@ fun – massive indoor playbarn, acres of outdoor adventure play, animal talks & interactions and more!
Vegetables while stock last only
