Having lived through nearly 40 strawberry seasons, I've got a reasonable understanding of how they work. There's a beginning, a peak and an end. The quantity, quality and availability changes during the season. There are good times to pick, and not so good times. And when I'm updating the availability page on this website, I often fall into the trap of using phrases like 'peak season' and assume everyone must know what I'm talking about.

But on reflection, I suspect this isn't always the case. Why would anyone who doesn't spend their year obsessing about growing soft fruit know the ins-and-outs of a strawberry season? Surely they're either ready for picking or they're not?!

​Well, to help explain what I mean, and to give you a better idea of what you can expect from different parts of a strawberry season... I've made a little video guide.

I hope the video helps explain what I struggle to communicate in my written updates. And even if it doesn't help, I hope you enjoyed Linda's little cameo!

James Bulmer
​8th July 2019

Even as I type, I can't believe I'm about to share this video publicly on the internet... A film star I am not!

... but I hope you find it useful in explaining what to expect at the farm this summer when the fruit picking starts. And if nothing else it might raise a little smile!

James Bulmer
10/6/2019

I spotted the team in action in the pumpkin patch this afternoon and took the chance to make a short video. We've planted pumpkins in late May every year since the early 1990s. It's the start of months of caring for the plants to get a bumper patch full of pumpkins for picking in October!

You'll have to excuse the noise of the breeze in the background but I hope you'll find something interesting in this quick introduction to pumpkin planting!

And if you know a little someone who'd like to have a go at planting a pumpkin in our patch (by hand) then check for spaces on the Junior Farmer sessions we hold during the May half term.

James Bulmer, 21st May 2019

Back in January I set out our New Year’s resolutions for the 2019: the ideas to make Kenyon Hall a better place to visit this year. Having been open about our intentions, I wanted to continue that transparency with an honest appraisal of progress. Here ​I'll take a quick look at the five resolutions we made and assess how each one has developed. We've not had 100% success, but we've certainly stuck to them better than I ever manage with my own personal resolutions!

Welcome to 'Kenyon Small Farm', our re-vamped play area here at Kenyon Hall Farm. 

Over the last 6 weeks we've braved the soggy spring conditions to refresh our outdoor play park in time for Easter. And we've made it just in time! This is a quick post to share what we've done, why we've done it, and what the little ones can expect to find on their next visit to the farm...

We had a lovely week or so in mid-February when the sun shone and the bees came out to play.

​It turned out to be something of a false dawn, with most of March being soggy soggy soggy! But in that brief window of sunshine I managed to capture our bees stretching their wings for the first time in 2019. These hives have been on the farm for decades and help make the honey we sell in the farm shop. We love our bees!

On the back of one of our chefs asking recently: "How do artichokes grow'... I thought I'd do a quick video to explain. I don't think Steven Steven Spielberg has anything to worry about, and if you suffer from sea-sickness you may need to close your eyes when I start walking... but other than that I hope you find this little film informative!

​There are subtitles if you can't hear what I'm saying...

Last summer we launched a review on the future of Kenyon Hall Farm. Within a week we'd had an overwhelming response: a whopping 875 replies, 10,000+ pieces of data and 30 pages of A4 filled with suggestions. It was so heartening to have so many people care about our little old farm! So it's only fair I put the time in to analyse what you've said and to share the findings.

This post will explain why we did a survey and three of the fundamental things we discovered - the Executive Summary. My next blog post(s) will go into specific details about the ideas for the future that we're going to run with to (hopefully) make the farm even better!