Around Town

Punnets of plenty: pick your own at London's fruit farms

Garsons Farm in Esher has been supplying Londoners with fresh, local food since the nineteenth century, when tons of fruit and vegetables would be transported by horse and cart to Borough Market throughout harvest time.These days, though, it’s Londoners – mainly families from south of the river – who do the travelling, coming in their droves all summer to pick their own seasonal produce. On the outskirts of Esher, the farm’s setting is home counties suburban rather than strictly rural; a nearby village green and a duck pond lend antiquated charm.In the 25 years since they switched to pick your own, the business has grown into a slick and modern enterprise – the largest in the UK– incorporating a huge garden centre, gift shop and café, plus a temptingly cool, stone-flagged shop piled high with artisan bread, cheese, olives, local meats, preserves and more. Feature continues

It’s a business that has responded well to twenty-first-century Londoners’ increasing desire for fresh, healthy food, although it was originally a response to the increasing power of the supermarkets at that time. Although it’s not organic, Garsons makes a point of being environmentally minded; it sources all its water from the River Mole, which runs along the west side of the farm, and keeps pesticides to a minimum, preferring to use biological controls wherever possible.

Many locals come here weekly or even more often to do their basic food shopping, though the day I went, a scorching hot Monday, the shop was doing more business than the fields (regulars know that many crops will have been heavily picked over the weekend, so time their visit later in the week). Under the blazing sun, the farm was heavy with that distinctive countryside peacefulness, the sound of insects buzzing and the occasional stirring of leaves in the breeze combining to create a sultry, meditative atmosphere. The only disturbance to the quiet was a coachload of schoolchildren who swarmed across the strawberry fields, and an old woman who, spotting me talking to marketing manager Ben Thompson (a scion of the family which has farmed here since 1871), came straight over to demand to know when the cherries would be ripe – she comes every Monday in summer just to check. ‘You’ve got to be quick,’ she tells me. ‘One minute they’re here, and the next they’re gone.’

‘They do go fast,’ Thompson agrees, showing me the cherry enclosure, which is padlocked to prevent impatient marauders coming in and stripping the trees. By now, the cherries have already been and gone, but with the sweetcorn fields about to open, there will be plenty of maize-hunters flocking in this weekend. ‘Lots of our regulars keep a close eye on which fields and orchards are going to be opened,’ says Thompson. ‘You’d be amazed how many of them have a favourite variety of strawberry or raspberry, and know when they’re due to be ripe.’