Picking fruits and vegetables has become one of our favourite family activities during summer and autumn. It makes for a fun day out, as well as a great learning experience, making our way through the crops, filling up baskets with delicious produce for a low price.
Garsons Pick Your Own Farm in Esher, Surrey, has one of the best pick your own fruit and vegetable farms near London. It is also the UK’s largest, with 28 crops of fruit, vegetable and flower crops open from June to October. We’ve been visiting Garsons Farm at least once during the summer to pick strawberries and again in October to pick pumpkins at the patch. In this post, I’ll be sharing more about the wide variety of fruits and vegetables available for picking at Garsons PYO Farm and what to expect visiting in 2024.
Related: Pick Your Own Farms near London
Tip: Check the Garsons PYO Farm website for the latest crop availability updates
At Garson Farm’s Esher location, in addition to the Pick Your Own Farm, you’ll find a large Garden Centre, Restaurant and a Farm Shop. There are restrooms and baby changing facilities within the Garden Centre, and a small playground near the restaurant. There are no toilet or restaurant facilities on the PYO Farm.
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Booking a Farm Pass
Farm Passes are available to book for Garsons Pick Your Own Farm at https://www.garsons.co.uk/pyo-farm. Each individual, including children and infants, need to have a Farm Pass which cost £5 per adult (ages 15+) and £2 for child (ages 2 – 14). The cost of the Farm Pass(es) are deducted from your pick your own purchases at the farm exit. Remember to hold onto the receipt that you will receive when your farm passes are scanned at the entrance kiosk.
You can walk around the farm, but the crops are very spread out across 150 acres so I would recommend driving to the fields. When you enter the PYO farm, you will need to show your confirmation email, either on your phone or a printed copy, so the staff can scan the Farm Pass barcode.
The dirt road around the PYO farm is one-way and by most crops, there is a parking area and a kiosk with small punnets (that hold approximately 1 kg of produce) or large punnets (that hold about 3 kg) which you can take free of charge. Compostable bags are also provided for vegetable picking.
Produce is weighed at the exit tills, and the cost of your Farm Pass(es) will be deducted from the total bill, providing the produce is equal or of higher value than the Farm Pass cost. Cash is not accepted at the exit tills. Garsons PYO Farm Esher accepts contactless and chip and pin card payments, excluding American Express.
Strawberries
We go fruit picking at Garsons Esher every summer, and picking your own strawberries are always a highlight. Freshly picked strawberries are so delicious and absolutely worth coming out to a PYO farm to gather your own. It’s a fun experience that my kids look forward to each year.
There are several types of strawberry crops around Garsons Farm, either in an open field, in table-top rows, or in an area covered by a shade cloth (pictured below).
The type of crop you can pick strawberries at varies depending on which crops are ready for picking on the day you visit. On some days you might find several strawberry crops open for picking around the fields.
Related: Things to in London Summer Holidays
Carrots
One of the reasons why we enjoy coming to Garsons Farm is the variety. In addition to having a wide selection of produce to pick, it’s a great educational experience for kids to see how different fruits and vegetables grow.
Spinach
On one of our June visits, we picked carrots and spinach in addition to strawberries.
Green Beans
July is a great time to visit when plenty of crops were open. On one visit, we ended up picking strawberries, cherries, raspberries, and French beans.
Cherries
Raspberries
We have also visited Garsons Farm in early September. Again, there was a variety of crops to pick from, with our favourites being the raspberries and plums.
Sweetcorn
During our September visit to the Garsons Pick Your Own Farm, we also picked apples, sweetcorn and a couple of sunflowers. Little T was much more interested in the ladybugs he found on the leaves in the corn field.
Sunflowers
Tip: Bring scissors or flower snips if you plan on picking sunflowers!
Pumpkin Parade
Garsons Farm is one of the best pumpkin patches near London to visit in October. Garsons Farm Esher have their pumpkins for picking arranged in a Pumpkin Parade, a covered area with four tunnels in the Pick Your Own farm.
A Pumpkin Pass, booked online in advance, is required to enter the farm and parade experience. Pumpkin Passes cost £4 per person for adults and children aged 2+. Infants under 2 years old are free of charge and do not require a pass.
Book tickets for the Pumpkin Parade at Garsons PYO Farm
Once at the Pumpkin Parade, pick up a wheelbarrow and choose from hundreds of pumpkins and take autumn and Halloween themed photos.
In previous years, there was also a Children’s Corner with decorated character pumpkins and tables for colouring activities and noughts and crosses games.
Read more: Pumpkin Patches near London
Garsons Farm Shop
Voted Surrey’s best farm shop, the Farm Shop at Garsons Esher stocks high quality produce; local and regional cheese; freshly baked bread and pastries; locally-made wines, beers and spirits; free-range beef and poultry; speciality foods and artisan products from around Surrey, Hampshire and beyond.
There’s also a section of American food products, particularly helpful if you’re looking for certain ingredients, favourite snacks or special treats for Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas.
The Farm Shop at Garsons Esher is always a pleasure to visit and we always stop by after the PYO farm. It’s especially lovely in autumn with the displays of pumpkins and gourds and a great selection of gifts and festive treats for the holidays.
Garden Centre and Restaurant
There’s a large restaurant, the Orangery Tea House, inside the Garden Centre that also has outdoor seating. You can order off the menu or pick up sandwiches, drinks, cakes and snacks at the café.
The Garden Centre is huge with a wide selection of home décor, toys, garden furniture and grills, toiletries, clothing, plants and flowers. There’s also a small playground just outside the restaurant.
Picking strawberries in the summer and visiting the pumpkin patch in autumn – and so many other fruits and vegetables in between! – have become annual traditions we look forward to.
With its wide variety of crops open between June and October and a convenient location only about 40 minutes from West London, Garsons Farm makes for a great family day out and a fun, educational experience for kids to see how different fruits and vegetables grow. And you end up with a bunch of delicious produce, at a low price, to enjoy once you get home!
Garsons Farm Esher Surrey
Address: Winterdown Road, Esher, Surrey, KT10 8LS
Opening Hours: Pick Your Own Farm is open from June to October. Monday to Saturday 9am – 6pm; Sunday 11am – 5pm
Farm Pass: Book a Farm Pass and choose a time slot in advance at https://www.garsons.co.uk/pyo-farm. Each individual, including children and infants, will need to have a Farm Pass which cost £5 per adult (ages 15+) and £2 for child (ages 2 – 14). The cost of the Farm Pass(es) will be deducted from your PYO purchases at the farm exit.
Pumpkin Pass: A Pumpkin Pass, booked online in advance, is required to enter the farm and Pumpkin Parade experience this October. Pumpkin Passes cost £4 per person for adults and children aged 2+. Infants under 2 years old free and do not require a Pumpkin Pass booking.
Family-Friendly Facilities: Restaurant offering kid’s menu and lunchbox items, playground near the restaurant, restrooms and baby changing facilities in the garden centre.
Parking: Free parking at the garden centre – including parking for families with young children by the disabled spots – and around the Pick Your Own farm area.
https://www.garsons.co.uk/pyo-farm
This post was updated on 7 September 2024 with updated information on visiting the Pumpkin Parade at Garsons Pick Your Own Farm.
PIN FOR LATER – Garsons Pick Your Own Farm Surrey
