The Scottish Borders is a big, rural council area, and its local food is spread out accordingly: a farm shop café on The Hirsel estate at Coldstream, Aberdeen Angus beef sold straight from the farm at Gordon, outdoor-grown strawberries and raspberries to pick near Kelso, and a farm shop with its own beef, lamb, pork and milk vending at Stouslie near Hawick. This guide compares the four by location, what each farm grows or rears and when you can buy, so you can plan a useful trip.

You do not need to live on a farm to eat closer to one. A single stop you can return to, a short list and a cool bag in the car are a good start.

Which farm shop or picking farm should you choose?

For the eastern Borders, The Homestead at Coldstream is open every day and is the easiest drop-in. Hardiesmill at Gordon, between Kelso and Lauder, is the one for beef, and its pop-up shop opens Thursday to Saturday. In summer, Border Berries near Kelso is the place to pick strawberries and raspberries, and in October Stouslie Farm near Hawick runs a ticketed pumpkin patch with a farm shop selling its own meat.

Two of these are seasonal. Border Berries has closed for 2026 and reopens in June, and Stouslie’s shop is part of its October pumpkin patch, so check each farm’s own page before setting off.

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.

• The Homestead Café & Farm Shop , A daily farm shop café at The Hirsel, Coldstream
• Hardiesmill , Aberdeen Angus beef born, reared and butchered at Gordon
• Border Berries , Outdoor-grown pick-your-own berries near Kelso
• Stouslie Farm , Home-reared meat, farm milk and an October pumpkin patch near Hawick

The Homestead Café & Farm Shop

Map and location

The Hirsel, Coldstream, TD12 4LW. View The Homestead Café & Farm Shop on the map.

Contact: 01890 880180.

Tweed Valley produce on The Hirsel estate

The Homestead sits on The Hirsel estate on the edge of Coldstream, close to the English border. It describes itself as a local food café and farm shop celebrating produce from the Tweed Valley, with food to eat in or take away and a selection of specialty drinks.

The café keeps a sample breakfast and lunch menu with daily specials, and the shop also sells featured products online, so it suits a stop on the way along the Tweed.

Visiting and buying

The Homestead’s website gives its hours as 10:00 to 16:00 every day, Monday to Sunday. For questions about the café or the shop, phone 01890 880180.

It is the only stop in this guide that opens seven days a week, which makes it the reliable choice at a weekend. Ask which items come from the estate and which from other Borders producers.

The Homestead Café & Farm Shop: website and opening hours.

Hardiesmill

Map and location

Hardiesmill Place, Gordon, Scottish Borders, TD3 6LQ. View Hardiesmill on the map.

Pure-bred Aberdeen Angus from one farm

Hardiesmill is run by Robin and Alison Tuke, with master butcher Brian Grieve. Its cattle are pure-bred Aberdeen Angus that live their whole lives on the farm: none are bought in, and they are born, reared and butchered at Gordon. The farm says the herd eats only species-rich grass, grass silage and hay.

Hardiesmill lists memberships of Quality Meat Scotland’s Masters of Meat, Slow Food’s Ark of Taste and the Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society. Beside its own beef, the small shop stocks other local and artisan foods chosen to make up a complete meal, including grass-fed lamb, Ednam organic eggs, Laprig apple juice, Kitty’s Ginger Wine and Jarvis Pickle pies.

Visiting and buying

The pop-up shop next to the butchery opens on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 6pm and on Saturdays from 9.30am to 3pm. Email mail@hardiesmill.co.uk to order ahead or ask about cuts; the farm also offers dispatch.

Hardiesmill also has a beef stall at Kelso Farmers Market in the Square, Kelso. The farm lists the next markets as 24 October, 28 November and 26 December. Gift cards work at both the shop and the market stall.

Hardiesmill: website and opening hours.

Border Berries

Map and location

Rutherford Farm, Kelso, TD5 8NP. View Border Berries on the map.

Contact: 01835 823763.

Pick-your-own strawberries and raspberries, grown in the open air

Harriet’s family has farmed Rutherford, west of Kelso, for nearly 80 years, and berries have been part of the farm since the 1960s, when it supplied a local jam factory. The fruit is grown outdoors with no polytunnels, which means a shorter Scottish season. For the rest of the year Rutherford is an arable farm growing wheat, barley, oilseed rape, oats and peas, with hill cattle and sheep.

Harriet runs the café, using eggs from Sandystones, another local organic farm, flour from Shipton Mill, and cordial and ice lollies made from the farm’s own berries.

Visiting and buying

Border Berries has closed for 2026 and says it will be back next June. In season it opens seven days a week, 10am to 7pm, with free entry: you pay for what you pick, by card or cash, and there is no booking. Strawberries come first and are easiest until about mid-July; raspberries carry on to the end of the season.

Bring any basket you like and weigh it at the tent as you go in. Dogs are welcome in the car park and picnic areas but not among the fruit. The fields are fairly flat, and there are toilets and baby changing by the café.

Border Berries: website and opening hours.

Stouslie Farm

Map and location

Stouslie Farm, Hawick, Scottish Borders, TD9 7NX. View Stouslie Farm on the map.

Contact: 07368 998789.

Hand-grown pumpkins and the farm’s own beef, lamb and pork

Stouslie Farm, just outside Hawick, is running its pumpkin patch for the third year. The farm says every pumpkin was hand sown into seed trays, hand transplanted into the fields and harvested by hand, after a difficult first year of poor germination and slug damage.

At the patch, the farm shop sells cakes, drinks and sweets alongside produce reared on the farm: grass-fed beef, slow-grown lamb and free-range pork. A vending trailer dispenses the farm’s fresh milk and milkshakes.

Visiting and buying

The 2026 patch opens on set autumn dates, ending on Saturday 31 October. Tickets must be booked in advance through Eventbrite and cost £11.50 per car (£15.47 with VAT and fees) for a two-hour session for up to five people. Pumpkins are extra, from £2 to £9.

Card and cash are both accepted. Dogs on leads are allowed, but not in the picking or play areas. The farm shop and milk trailer stand on hard standing. Outside the patch dates, contact the farm at contact@stousliefarm.com about buying meat.

Stouslie 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

Sources

• The Homestead Café & Farm Shop
• The Homestead Café & Farm Shop, Scotland Starts Here
• Hardiesmill
• Hardiesmill farm shop
• Hardiesmill contact
• Border Berries
• Stouslie Farm

Research reviewed 27 October 2026. Farm and visitor sources support the descriptions above. No firsthand visit, current stock check or certification is claimed.