Northamptonshire is a farming county, and several of its farms sell what they produce straight to the public. This guide compares four: Pastures Poultry at Yardley Hastings, south-east of Northampton; Waterloo Cottage Farm at Great Oxendon in the north-west of the county; Barnowl Farm Shop at Evenley, just south of Brackley; and New Lodge Farm at Bulwick, between Corby and Stamford. Each one is a working farm, so the useful question is which shop has the food you need and where it was grown.
As a Londoner, I know it is not realistic for everyone to live on a farm. A farm shop, farmers' market or community garden can be part of a more direct food routine. Start with a reachable stop and a short list, rather than expecting to change everything at once.
Which farm shop or picking farm should you choose?
The four shops sit at different corners of the county, so most people will have one within a reasonable drive. From Northampton, Pastures Poultry is the closest, on the Olney road past Yardley Hastings, and it is the one to choose for free-range chicken, duck and guinea fowl. In the north-west, Waterloo Cottage Farm near Market Harborough is best for pasture-fed beef, lamb and pork. In the south, Barnowl Farm Shop near Brackley is the place for Jersey milk, cream, butter and ice cream made on the farm. In the north-east, New Lodge Farm at Bulwick combines a farm shop and butchery with a café, which suits a longer stop.
Opening days vary a good deal. Waterloo Cottage and Pastures Poultry are not open every day, while Barnowl says it opens seven days a week. Check the times before you set off, especially near Christmas, and ask at the counter which items come from the farm itself and which are bought in from neighbours.
Check the farm’s current crops, opening times and prices before travelling. Picking seasons vary, and a farm shop may sell produce without offering pick-your-own visits.
- Pastures Poultry , Free-range poultry farm near Yardley Hastings
- Waterloo Cottage Farm , Pasture-fed meat at Great Oxendon since 2010
- Barnowl Farm Shop , Jersey dairy farm shop near Brackley
- New Lodge Farm , Singlehurst family farm at Bulwick
Pastures Poultry
Map and location
Pastures Poultry Farm, Olney Road, Yardley Hastings, NN7 1HL. View Pastures Poultry on the map.
Contact: 01604 696586.
A family poultry farm farming at Pastures since 2000
Pastures Poultry is a family-run poultry farm on the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, between Olney and Yardley Hastings, with views over the ancient woodland of Yardley Chase. James learned the trade with his father, Tony, at Olney Park Farm, graduated from Harper Adams Agricultural College in 1990 and began farming at Pastures in 2000; his daughter Lottie helps on the farm. Chickens, ducks and guinea fowl are reared all year, free range on the farm's grass fields or barn reared on fresh straw, with Norfolk Bronze turkeys and geese for Christmas. Processing is done on the farm and the meat is hung for up to ten days.
The farm shop and café opened a few years ago. The shop sells the farm's own oven-ready poultry, prepared by its on-site butchers, along with hams, gammons, sausages, homemade pies, pasties, sausage rolls, quiche, cakes, puddings and preserves. Beef, lamb and pork come from local producers. Other local names on its shelves include Whittlebury Bakery bread, Fruity Farm rapeseed oil and gins, and Northamptonshire ales, ciders and ice creams. The café serves homemade food, freshly ground coffee and specials.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website gives the farm shop and café hours as Wednesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, with food served from 9am to 3pm and drinks and cake until 4pm. A tourism listing gives different days, so go by the farm's own site. Tables in the café can be booked online or by phone. Christmas turkeys and geese are pre-ordered. The farm also trades at markets in Oundle, Olney, Higham Ferrers and elsewhere. Ask which meats are reared at Pastures and which come from other local farms.
Pastures Poultry: website and opening hours.
Waterloo Cottage Farm
Map and location
34 Harborough Road, Great Oxendon, LE16 8NA. View Waterloo Cottage Farm on the map.
Contact: 07976 263311.
From two pigs to 125 acres of regenerative grazing
Waterloo Cottage Farm is a family-owned farm at Great Oxendon, in the north-west of the county just south of Market Harborough. It began in 2010 with five acres, a farmhouse and two pigs called Fleur and Ruth, and it now covers 125 acres. The farmer, Angus, set out to rear well cared for animals and improve the local environment at the same time. He uses regenerative grazing and agroforestry to produce pasture-fed beef, lamb and hogget, and free-range pork. The farm also has a community garden, which supplies herbs such as wild garlic and marjoram for its cooking.
The farm shop and butchery aim to produce as much as possible in-house. Meat is slow grown and matured for 28 days, and the shop makes its own air-dried charcuterie, home-cooked pies and ready meals, as well as burgers and sausages. It also sells a chosen range of other goods, including local beers, wines and spirits, and Adnams fine wines. Orders can be placed through Edible16, a not-for-profit local shopping service, for click and collect or delivery.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website gives opening hours of Wednesday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, and Saturday, 8.30am to 3pm. It is closed Sunday to Tuesday, so plan around that. You can order ahead through Edible16 click and collect, or by texting 07976 263311, which is useful for larger orders or special cuts. The farm is on the Harborough Road at Great Oxendon. Since most of the meat is the farm's own, ask what is in season and which cuts are available that week.
Waterloo Cottage Farm: website and opening hours.
Barnowl Farm Shop
Map and location
Cloisters Farm, Bicester Hill, Evenley, Northamptonshire, NN13 5SD. View Barnowl Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01280 731666.
Milk, cream and ice cream from the Barnowl Jerseys
Barnowl Farm Shop is a family-run shop at Cloisters Farm, Evenley, just south of Brackley, and it is the diversification of Barnowl Jerseys, a herd with a long history of breeding Jersey cows. The farm says more than 90 per cent of the cows' diet is grass, grazed in summer and fed as grass silage cut on the farm and within the parish of Evenley. The cows are milked twice a day, every day of the year. In its mini micro dairy, the farm makes raw, pasteurised and skimmed Jersey milk, Jersey cream, salted butter and Jersey ice cream.
The shop also has a theatre butcher's counter, run by a master butcher and open seven days a week. As a mainly dairy farm, it can occasionally stock its own native cross beef and Oxford Sandy and Black pork. The rest of its meat comes from named suppliers, including Ludgates of Thame, Weddel Swift of Market Harborough, Woods Farm at Watlington for pork and Herb Fed chicken. Strawberries come from neighbours at Featherbed Fruits in season, and there is a learning loft above the shop.
Visiting and buying
The shop's website says it is open seven days a week but does not yet list opening times, because the site is still being built. Phone 01280 731666 before a special trip. For more than eight litres of milk or three pots of cream, the farm asks for at least 48 hours' notice. It holds events through the year, including a Christmas fayre. Ask whether its own beef or pork is on the counter when you visit, since supply varies.
New Lodge Farm
Map and location
Laxton Road, Bulwick, Rockingham Forest, Corby, Northants, NN17 3DU. View New Lodge Farm on the map.
Contact: 01780 450493.
Singlehurst family cattle and sheep farm for a century
New Lodge Farm is at Bulwick in Rockingham Forest, in the north-east of the county between Corby and Stamford. The Singlehurst family has owned the farm for more than 100 years. It began as a cattle and sheep farm using traditional organic methods, and it describes itself as continuing that livestock tradition. Over the last 20 years the family has added leisure and catering, and today Simon and Sarah Singlehurst run the farm shop, butchery and café bar in restored stone barns, alongside an adults-only site for touring caravans, motorhomes and camping.
The farm shop describes itself as a window for the farm's homegrown produce. It sells beef, lamb, pork and poultry, described as homebred and locally sourced, plus burgers, sausages and bacon made by the shop. There are cheeses, butter, yoghurt, cream, milk and eggs, bread and rolls, cakes, pies and tarts, preserves, and wines, beers and spirits. A local grocer sells fruit and vegetables at weekends. The café bar serves Sunday roasts and Friday suppers, which can be pre-ordered.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website gives farm shop hours of Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4pm; Friday, 9am to 8pm; Saturday, 8.30am to 8pm; and Sunday, 8.30am to 4pm. Fruit and vegetables from the visiting grocer are there at weekends only. Christmas meat can be ordered online or on a downloadable form, for collection at the shop or a market stall. Bulwick is reached from the A43, so it is a handy stop between Corby and Stamford. Ask which meat is homebred.
New Lodge Farm: website and opening hours.
Knowing a farm shop you can return to is also one of the most practical ways to be ready for disruption. Read The Be Ready Campaign: A UK Guide to Stocking Your Home With Healthy, Local Food, and use the Be Ready Map to find more local food across the UK.
Plan your farm visit, produce, quantities and picking dates
Choose one or two farms or farm shops that fit your route. Write down what you want, how much you need and what you will do with it when you get home. If one crop is unavailable, decide whether to choose a different farm, change the meal or return another day.
- Confirm the crop, public opening and any booking requirement.
- Ask whether you can pick yourself or buy already picked.
- Check the price unit, payment method and containers.
- Ask about access, parking and the correct visitor entrance.
Farm shop and fruit-picking questions
Where can I buy local food in Northamptonshire?
Good farm shops in Northamptonshire include Pastures Poultry at Yardley Hastings near Northampton, Waterloo Cottage Farm at Great Oxendon near Market Harborough, Barnowl Farm Shop at Evenley near Brackley, and New Lodge Farm at Bulwick near Corby. All four sell meat or dairy produced on their own farms.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Northamptonshire covers a wide area, and this guide spreads its choices across the county. Each farm section gives its location so you can compare the journey before you set off.
Can I pick at every farm or market?
No. Farm shops and markets may sell ready-picked food without opening fields to visitors. Ask the individual business about picking access, the crop and any booking requirement.
Plan your farm shopping with My Shopping List and Harvest Checker
Open My Shopping List to record produce, quantities and estimated costs. Mark items as bought when you collect them and keep the plan for your next trip.
Use Harvest Checker after a grower gives you a picking window. Enter those dates and compare them with your visit date. The tool uses your entries; it does not fetch live availability from farms.
My Shopping List
Keep the produce you actually need in one place before you set off.
Use My Shopping ListHarvest Checker
Compare your visit with dates confirmed by the grower. This does not check live stock.
Use Harvest CheckerUse the tools with your My Ideal World account. Guest and free-account limits apply; paid members have unlimited tool access.
Explore more farm shops and picking farms in My Ideal World. Browse the Farm Shops app below or beside this article, then check the grower’s current crop and opening before visiting.
Sources
- Pastures Poultry , official website
- Pastures Poultry , About Us
- Pastures Poultry , Discover Northamptonshire
- Waterloo Cottage Farm , official website
- Barnowl Farm Shop , official website
- Barnowl Farm Shop , Dairy
- Barnowl Farm Shop , Butchery
- New Lodge Farm , Farm Shop
- New Lodge Farm , About Us
Research reviewed 25 October 2026. Farm and visitor sources support the descriptions above. Historical information is identified where relevant; no firsthand visit, current stock check or certification is claimed.