Well done to the Broom House Team!  We're proud to be a great place for a family day out!

Broom House Farm was awarded the brand new Best on-farm Destination title at the FARMA Awards in February this year. The Award recognises the growing numbers of farm businesses who do more than sell local food to customers - they invite them to actually experience the farm. The Awards' judges loved the fact that owners Mark and Jane Gray were offering visitors to Broom House Farm not only a farm shop and coffee shop, but the chance to learn about food, farming, and the countryside, often in a hands-on (and sometimes in a very muddy) way. With around 4,000 school children now visiting the farm each year, Jane explains how education has become an exciting and intrinsic part of the business.

Retail Farmer: When and why did you decide to start hosting school visits at Broom House? 

Jane Gray: It was in 2001. Our children were reaching school age and we realised that school visits to farms in this area - traditionally a part of every child's education - had been phased out or centred on sanitised visits to "farm zoos", mainly for health and safety reasons. Whilst we could understand the reasoning, we were determined to buck this trend and get children out into the mucky but real countryside to learn about where the food they eat comes from

We've learned to plan and tailor each visit individually, and also take into account what is happening on the farm on the day to add interest and relevance; weighing lambs, sheep shearing, forage harvesting, muck spreading.   These days we rely less on worksheets and more on creating practical and memorable experiences that can be followed up in class.  Increasingly we walk all around the farm, so exercise is as much a part of the day as learning.  We've also learned that contrary to teachers' expectations, children are often fascinated in the gory and smelly aspects of farming and butchery!