Taking part in our Grow Your Own Pumpkin campaign? Make sure you take a look at our 10 top tips for growing pumpkins!

1. Be aware that  pumpkins will not stand any frost. Do not plant outside until the end of May or early June. It is a good idea to plant it in a pot of about 1 litre capacity first to grow it on. You can bring this in at night or in cold weather for a week or two until it is safe to plant outside.
   
2. Plant about 600mm apart to allow them to grow. Some varieties grow long runners!
   
3. Pumpkins prefer fairly free drained soil but will tolerate most soils if not waterlogged. They can be grown in tubs but you will need a fairly big one – 600mm in diameter.
   
4. There are lots of different varieties. Some will grow bigger than others. Generally, the big ones will only produce one or two per plant. The smaller ones may produce several.
   
5. Plant deep enough to cover all the root ball and water in immediately. Keep moist during the first few days until it has made new roots.
   
6. Look out for slugs and snails! They can eat the plant off level with the ground over night! You can use slug pellets, beer traps, egg shells to stop them – whatever works for you. It is not a bad idea to try to control your slugs a few days before you plant.
   
7. Keep the weeds down and water your pumpkin during dry weather.
   
8. As the pumpkin fruits form and grow you can make a better shape and even ripening it if you turn the fruit occasionally or place it on a tile or some matting to keep it clean. Be careful not to break the stem!
   
9. As Autumn approaches look out for early frosts. Cover the pumpkins with matting or newspaper if a frost is forecast.
   
10. When the pumpkin is ready to harvest cut the stem well above the pumpkin so have a decent sized “handle”. It will keep much better with the stem still intact.

Growing pumpkins at home? Share the progress of your pumpkin each week using the hashtag #EssingtonPumpkins on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Due to the uncertainty of whether we can open PYO pumpkins due to Coronavirus, we’ve decided to launch our brand new campaign “Grow Your Own Pumpkin!” 🎃

This is a fantastic project for all the family to get involved with while you are at home and will give you the chance to grow your very own pumpkins from scratch, ready for October.

To take part in our new project, you will need to purchase a pumpkin plant from our polytunnel at the farm shop. These are £1 each, or 6 for £5, and will go on sale from today. Each week we will be following the progress of your pumpkin plants and share expert advice, tips and tricks to grow your pumpkin at home.

This week is British Beef Week, which runs from 23rd – 30th April. Here at the farm, we are proud to produce our own pedigree Hereford beef that is of high quality and boasts superior flavour.

In the wake of Coronavirus, many of us are re-evaluating how we live our lives and what is really important to us. What could be more important than the environment in which we live and the importance of good quality, traceable food produced in a sustainable way.

Our pedigree Hereford Cattle are grass-fed. This grass-based diet makes our cattle slightly slower growing but gives a very tender meat with a superior flavour. Our livestock produce muck which is then used as a natural fertiliser, reducing our reliance on artificial fertiliser. Rearing our livestock in this sustainable and free range way helps the environment by promoting good soil condition which leads to increased levels of biodiversity. Our grassland also acts a vital source of carbon storage.

Our cattle are raised on the farm which produces great quality beef that you can buy fresh from our butchery counter. Our ‘farm to fork’ method of producing beef gives you confidence in what you buy as we are in full control of production and can make sure that our herd is raised sustainably right here in Essington. This also means that we are well stocked and less likely to run out of produce as we control the supply chain.

Selling our home-produced meat on our butchery counter also eliminates excessive food miles that you find when buying meat from abroad. Importing food produces a great deal of carbon pollution through transport so buying local produce is always best for the environment. You are also safe in the knowledge that your food has been produced to the highest standards and butchered with care on our own premises. In addition to lower food miles, local produce is always fresher and tastier as it has only travelled a short distance.

The meat we sell at Essington Farm is free from artificial additives and preservatives, and our customers are guaranteed the best quality meat as they are buying fresh directly from the producer. Make sure you treat yourself and your family to some of our top quality beef and join us in celebrating British Beef Week.

Friday 20th March

Our shop, butchery and deli is open as normal and well stocked. A big thank you to all of our staff for pulling out the stops over the past few days and keeping food on the shelves for all of our local customers. We will continue to work hard to keep our shop well stocked in this difficult time.

Regrettably, we feel this is the right time to temporarily close our restaurant and tomorrow (Saturday 21st) will be our last day open. This unfortunately means cancelling Mother’s Day lunches. Please be assured that this was a difficult decision to make and something we didn’t do lightly. We have a duty of care to our employees and customers, and feel under the circumstances this is the responsible thing to do.

Thank you all for your understanding during this unparalleled time. With the empty shelves and chaos in the supermarkets, it reinforces our belief that shopping at your local farm shop is the best and safest way. See you all soon!

Wednesday 18th March 2020

We would like to take this opportunity to reassure all of our customers that our shop is fully stocked and open as normal. We are continuing to implement strict hygiene practises throughout the business including sanitising trolleys, baskets, and frequently touched places, we even have automatic doors in our shop. We hope this reassures you that we are doing everything we can to look after our staff and customers in this difficult time.

As it looks like the majority of us will be staying at home this Mother’s Day, we’re offering Essington free-range leg of pork at 25% off from tomorrow (Thursday 19th) while stocks last. A little something from us to help you all out at this Mother’s Day.

17th March 2020

Following last nights advice from the government, we are now offering a take-away food service from our restaurant. Just turn up as normal and either bring your own plate or we can provide you with take-away packaging. Place your order and we will then plate the food for you to take away.
We will be trialling this over the next few days to see how it works and we’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, our shop is fully stocked and open as normal. We also have plenty of hot food and desserts to take away at the deli counter.
Keep a look out for special offers on our butchery counter for Mother’s Day!

13th March 2020

Essington Farm is open as normal, and we are fully stocked with our usual range of meat, fruit, veg, produce and local food. We have no shortages! Why not avoid the current crowds at the supermarket and shop with us for your groceries?

Given recent Government advice, as a precaution we are sanitising baskets, shopping trolleys, and all frequently touched surfaces in the shop and restaurant to help keep our customers and staff safe and healthy.

For our Pie and Mash supper on Thursday 5th March, we quizzed you on nursery rhymes and stories about pies. Here are the answers for everyone who took part.

1. Which nursery rhyme character sat in a corner eating pie?
   Jack Horner
   
2. Which comic character loved cow pie?
   Desperate Dan
   
3. Which nursery rhyme character kissed the girls and made them cry?
   Georgie Porgie
   
4. Which barber made his customers into meat pies?
   Sweeny Todd

This time round the winner was Mr Dilly, who has won a two course meal for two at our next evening function!

If you’d like to join us for our next event, St George’s Supper, on Thursday 23rd April 2020 please call the restaurant on 01902 735 724 to book your place.

You can take a look at the menu for the evening here: St George’s Supper 2020 menu We look forward to seeing you there!

Our Black-country Burns Night was certainly an evening to remember! Thank you to everyone who joined us. Our quiz for the evening was Burns-themed – here are the answers for those who took part.

1. Which Burns poem has become one of the world’s best known songs, sung annually by millions of people?
   Old Lang Syne
   
2. What is a “wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie”?
   A mouse
   
3. Who was Jean Armour?
   Robert Burns’ wife
   
4. The Queen and Tony Blair seemed to disagree at New Year 2000 – what about?
   Crossing arms in a circle at midnight for ‘Old Lang Syne’

The winner of our quiz was Mr Squire, who won a meal for two at our next evening event – Folk at the Farm. We look forward to seeing you at our next event!

After being a finalist for three consecutive years, we were finally named the winners of the ‘Farm Shop of the Year’ category at the Butcher’s Shop of the Year Awards 2019!

The annual awards, hosted by Meat Trades Journal, celebrates the best of the UK’s butchery industry and this year Essington Farm was crowned the overall winner of the ‘Farm Shop of the Year’ award. Thirteen awards were presented during the glittering ceremony in front of an audience of 200 guests at Hilton London Bankside.

Judges praised Essington Farm and our staff highly, and commented: “Animal welfare and low food miles on top of superb presentation of a wide range of top-quality products makes this an outstanding farm shop. The farm specialises in its own pigs and special offers abound.”

This is a highly prestigious, national award which we have found ourselves in the finalists category for three years running, so we were delighted to have been awarded the winner’s trophy! We thank all of our wonderful staff for their hard work and commitment over the last year, and we are so proud of their achievements which have been rightfully recognised for this UK award. It is great to see our staff recognised for the wonderful, personal service and excellent value they offer.