Picking your own fruit has long been a Norfolk summer tradition. There's something hugely satisfying about tucking into a punnet of sweet sun-warmed strawberries which you've collected yourself. But in recent years a number of farms have been diversifying. In addition to the traditional crops of summer fruits, some of them have been turning fields over to growing pick your own pumpkins and squashes for Halloween.
A field of bright yellow sunflowers against a bright blue sky is one of the most joyful sights of the season. And here in Norfolk some farms are now offering pick your own sunflowers as the golden petalled blooms reach their majestic peak in July and August.
The trend taps into the fact that it makes for great photo opportunities for social media, as well as being a lovely way to make summer memories and get out into the great outdoors.
Tom Wright and Jo Sindall, of Ha Ha Farm at Strumpshaw, grew sunflowers for the first time in 2023 - and it proved so popular that this summer they're opening up a field in north Norfolk too. They're also holding some special evening food and music events at Ha Ha Farms during August.
As Tom explains, he grew up in Norfolk and comes from a family that has farmed for seven generations.
'It has always been in my blood,' he says. 'I briefly attended Harper Adams university, but soon left as I wanted to start my own business - because rather than writing a 2,000-word essay on castrating sheep I would prefer to get on and actually do it. So I returned and worked back on the family farm and our neighbours' farm and started saving up.'
Tractor driving, calf rearing, pig farming and building all played a role in Tom's early career. He eventually set up a farm in his own right and built his own house - and helped others to build farms too.
'As this took me all over the country, I began looking to the future,' he says. He also met Jo, who moved to Norfolk 16 years ago, from Godlaming in Surrey via Falmouth, Cornwall and Australia
'In my 20s I was a production co-ordinator in Sydney for magazine company and went on to become an editor here in Norfolk,' she explains.
'When I met Tom, aged 32, I was ready for a change of direction. I helped Tom around the farm, mucking out the pigs, and I loved it. I loved being outside and not stuck in an office.'
Buying a four-acre site in Hickling in 2015 led to their first diversification.
'A planning application, a council committee determination and many hours of work led to a functional campsite opening in 2016,' says Tom.
'I took on some freelance work for farming magazines, while Hickling Campsite grew,' says Jo. 'Tom and his brother Isaac have gone on the build six shepherd's huts, so we can now offer our campers some glamping options.'
In 2017 they teamed up with their friend Luke Patterson, who has a farm at Dilham, which has Norfolk's only canal running through the back, to set up Canal Camping, with canoes available to hire and launch from the site. It is now well-established and Luke has diversified further to create Dilham Hall Retreats and the watersports hub Dilham Hall Canoe Hire.
Then in 2018, Tom had a surprise for Jo. He had bought the 24-acre field at Strumpshaw, which was to become Ha Ha Farm - something he only revealed as he and Jo were on a dog walk in it.
'We didn't really know what to do with the field, in all honesty,' says Jo.
'And the task of creating a farm that engaged with the public began,' says Tom. 'Jo loves people and I love farming, so we are a great team.'
'As Tom farms pigs, we toyed with the idea of building another pig farm, then a campsite,' says Jo. 'A couple of years passed, and I said to Tom, why don’t you plant a few pumpkins, like our friends at Algy's, who we bought popcorn for the campsite off. Kids love to go into the field and pick them themselves, which Tom, being a farmer, was very bemused about.'
So, in 2020, they planted an acre of pumpkins.
'The first year we opened our little boy, Alfie, was six weeks old, and I had a little John Lewis coffee machine in the hut, as I was only expecting a few visitors. Word got around and quite a few people ventured out and it turned very busy, very quickly. The pumpkin patch expanded to five acres in 2021 and it has been growing ever since.'
Also in 2020, Tom built the barn at Ha Ha Farm where they now host weddings and events, which last year included a food and drink festival.
And last summer they planted sunflowers for the first time.
'I had a first birthday party for Alfie and I asked Tom to buy me some seeds for the party bags,' says Jo. 'Tom, being a farmer, bought an entire sack of sunflower seeds. They sat in our garage for a few years, and last year Tom came home from planting the pumpkins and said that he had planted the sunflower seeds around the edge of the pumpkins, as they would look spooky when they all died off for Halloween.
'I said, so hang on how many have you planted? He said 80,000. So I said why don’t we open them up to the public? And that is how the sunflower patch came to be last year.'
This year they have planted an acre of sunflowers at Ha Ha Farm and a number of varieties: Peredovik, Goldini, Standard and Helianthus Ann.
They are adding two giant swings, which will be great for photos, and as well as daytime picking, they are also teaming up with local food and drink vendors to hold some special evening events.
'Last year, one evening I was closing everything down and there was an absolutely gorgeous sunset and I thought to myself, there should be a glass of wine in my hand, a live band and good friends to enjoy this with,' says Jo.
So during the summer they are holding Dinner Under the Stars, with food cooked over a fire by Little Pie Patisserie, a Golden Hour Dinner with Norfolk's Edge and the Sunflower Sundowner the first two weekends in August.
They have also bought 10 acres at Holme-next-the-Sea, half a mile from the beach, which they've named Holme Beach Farm and will opening up for sunflower picking there during August too.
And looking ahead to the autumn, pumpkin picking will return for two weeks in October. This year the patch is six acres and they're growing more than 30 varieties including Tom Fox, Grizzly Bear, Turk's Turban squashes and Baby Blanco white pumpkins. They are also thinking of hosting an Easter event.
'We absolute love opening the gates and watching the kids run around and play on the hay bales. We see ourselves as farmers, and as the caretakers of the land, and we thoroughly enjoy sharing it,' says Jo.
'Alfie is now three and has such a great environment to grow up in - and he's inherited his mother's social side and his father's love of tractors, so who knows what he'll have in store for Ha Ha Farm,' says Tom.
The sunflower patch at Ha Ha Farm is open from 10am-4pm, July 27-August 25.
For more details and to book for the special sunflower events go to hahafarm.co.uk
5 more places to pick sunflowers in Norfolk
Delemores, Terrington St Clement
Pick sunflowers, wildflowers and sweetcorn. Dates coming soon - see delamores.co.uk for details
Rookery Meadows, Great Ellingham
Dates to be confirmed - see facebook.com/RookeryMeadows for details
Grange Farm, Hockwold
Dates to be confirmed - see facebook.com/GrangeFarmNorfolk for details
Westgate Farm, Walsingham
Dates to be confirmed - see westgate-farm.co.uk for details
Crown Point Estate, Kirby Bedon
Dates to be confirmed - see Instagram @crown_point_estate for details
