Stanhill Farm News!

We are delighted to be taking part in National Doughnut Week from Saturday 11th - Saturday 18th May to raise funds for The Children’s Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. During National Doughnut Week we will donate ALL takings from our doughnuts to this worthy cause, and every day (except Sunday) we will reveal a delicious and tempting ‘Doughnut of the Day’! Please come along to the farm shop for a doughnut and help us to raise money for this amazing charity!

We have been very busy planting 5000 raspberry canes for the Pick Your Own season. This job is usually done by hand, however, due to the ground being so dry we used a plough on the back of a tractor to help us. We have three raspberry varieties this year; Tulameen and Octavia, which are the summer varieties and Joan J which is the autumn variety.

The strawberries are also being prepared for the Pick Your Own season with the straw being laid in the rows. They're looking good so far with lots of flowers, so fingers crossed they continue this way and we don't get any late frosts.

The opening of the Pick Your Own largely depends on the weather, as we need a good balance of rain and sun. It's usually around the beginning of June, sometimes earlier, sometimes later - each year is different. We advise customers to keep an eye on the PYO page of our website where we post updates, or follow our social media pages - Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

We are excited to feature on the front page of the May edition of Dartford Living Magazine! You can pick up a copy in the Farm Shop or view online at www.dartfordliving.com. We highly recommend this great magazine! Free of charge and packed with lots of information about what’s happening in the area, as well as the perfect place to advertise your local business!

We were so pleased to be sponsors this season for one of our local football teams, the Hayden Youth Tigers. A very well done to the boys who lost just once in the last eleven games and reached their first ever final! You can see a photo of the team in their kit on our social media pages.

Our dry food dispensers are going very well, so thank you to everyone who has tried them and given feedback. Since we launched them we have also welcomed a number of new customers to the Farm Shop who are interested in reducing their carbon footprint, so this is very encouraging. We have two new additions in our range - Chia seeds and Pine kernels, and would love to know if there are any other dry goods you would like to see introduced. We are limited to space but welcome your suggestions and ideas.

We are currently trialling some Ecoleaf products, consisting of toilet rolls and kitchen towels, both made from 100% recycled paper and 100% compostable wrap. If these are popular we will introduce more Ecoleaf products to the range. Please ask staff in the Farm Shop for details!

We are currently still harvesting rhubarb and the last of our leeks.