This guide compares five Lincolnshire farm shops spread across a large county: Doddington Hall Farm Shop west of Lincoln, Redhill Farm’s Shop on the Farm at Morton near Gainsborough, The Wolds Edge outside Market Rasen near Tealby, Mountain’s Farm Shop at East Heckington between Sleaford and Boston, and Vine House Farm at Deeping St Nicholas near Spalding. Lincolnshire is a long drive end to end, 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?
Lincolnshire is big, so start with where you are. Around Lincoln, Doddington Hall is the easy choice, with kitchen garden produce and a café for a longer visit. North of the city, Redhill Farm near Gainsborough is the one for free range pork, bacon and pork pies from its own herd. In the Wolds, The Wolds Edge suits a stop on the way to Tealby or Louth, with a butchery counter for heritage breed meat. Between Sleaford and Boston, Mountain’s Farm Shop is a traditional butcher with a bistro, and in the south, Vine House Farm sells its own potatoes, eggs and seasonal vegetables.
Opening days vary more than you might expect. Redhill’s farm shop opens only Wednesday to Saturday, and The Wolds Edge is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so check before a long drive. At every shop it is worth asking which items come from the farm itself and which are bought in from other local producers.
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.
- Doddington Hall Farm Shop , Kitchen garden produce west of Lincoln
- Redhill Farm Shop on the Farm , Free range pork near Gainsborough
- The Wolds Edge , Butchery and café near Tealby
- Mountain’s Farm Shop , Boston sausage makers since 1852
- Vine House Farm , Fenland farm with home-grown vegetables
Doddington Hall Farm Shop
Map and location
Main Street, Doddington, Lincoln, LN6 4RU. View Doddington Hall Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01522 688581.
An Elizabethan estate and its restored walled kitchen garden
Doddington Hall is an Elizabethan house built between 1600 and 1606 by Thomas Tailor, and it has been a family home for over 400 years. Claire and James Birch took over the running of the estate in 2006. The walled kitchen garden, neglected for more than 50 years, was restored in 2007 with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the estate says that work led to the Farm Shop. The garden grows fruit, vegetables, salads and herbs, and the estate also keeps a herd of rare-breed, pasture-fed Lincoln Red cattle.
The shop sells kitchen garden produce in season alongside Doddington Estate honey, made by the Pont family who have kept bees on the estate for four generations, plus apple juice from the estate orchard. The butchery counter is supplied by Hambleton Farms in Rutland. Bread comes from Welbeck Bakery, cakes from Pocklington’s Bakery in Louth, cheese from Lincolnshire Poacher and flour from Maud Foster Mill in Boston. There is a Farm Shop Café as well as the separate Grain Store Café.
Visiting and buying
The estate website lists the Farm Shop as open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The Farm Shop Café is open 9am to 4pm daily. Kitchen garden produce is seasonal, so the range of home-grown vegetables and fruit changes through the year, and it is worth asking staff which items come from the estate itself. Doddington is a short drive west of Lincoln, so it fits easily with a trip into the city.
Doddington Hall Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Redhill Farm Shop on the Farm
Map and location
Laughton Lane, Morton, Gainsborough DN21 3DT. View Redhill Farm Shop on the Farm on the map.
Contact: 01427 628270.
A 180-acre family farm rearing free range pigs
Redhill Farm is a small, family-owned farm of 180 acres in rural Lincolnshire, run by Jane and Terry Tomlinson. The farm breeds its own Duroc cross Landrace pigs, which it says are reared fully free range, outdoors for their whole lives, with space to root and wallow and grow slowly. The farm also keeps grass-fed beef and lamb and has free range eggs. Its pork, sausages, bacon and pies have won a long list of Great Taste Awards, including a Supreme Champion title in 2020.
The farm makes most of its own products on site. The butchery works only with its own pork, two bakers make the pork pies and haslet by hand, and bacon, hams and sausages are cold smoked over oak chippings in a brick smokehouse. The Shop on the Farm sells the farm’s own pork, beef, lamb and eggs alongside local and regional honey, cheeses, preserves, drinks and gifts. Redhill also runs a smaller Shop in the Bail on Bailgate in Lincoln.
Visiting and buying
Redhill Farm’s website lists the Shop on the Farm as open Wednesday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, and Saturday, 9am to 1pm. It is closed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, so plan around those days. If you are in Lincoln instead, the Shop in the Bail at 89 Bailgate opens seven days a week. Redhill also sells at regular farmers’ markets around Lincolnshire. Morton lies just north of Gainsborough in the north west of the county.
Redhill Farm Shop on the Farm: website and opening hours.
The Wolds Edge
Map and location
Tealby Road, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 3UL. View The Wolds Edge on the map.
Contact: 01673 847986.
Lincoln Red beef and heritage breeds in the Wolds
The Wolds Edge is a farm shop, craft butchery and deli with an in-house café, on the north west scarp of the Lincolnshire Wolds just outside the village of Tealby. Its website does not say that it farms its own land; instead it focuses on local, traceable meat. The butchery supplies Lincoln Red beef and other heritage breed meats, and the Visit Lincolnshire listing also mentions Lincoln Longwool lamb, both traditional county breeds. The butchers can prepare bespoke cuts to order.
Cakes and pastries are handmade on site, and the deli sells pies and scotch eggs. The licensed café serves breakfast and lunch from a seasonal menu that draws on produce from the shop, and the shop stocks local and British food. There is an upstairs gift shop, indoor and outdoor seating, and plenty of parking. Ask at the counter which farms the meat comes from, as the shop names its breeds rather than its suppliers.
Visiting and buying
The Wolds Edge website lists opening hours of 10am to 4pm, Wednesday to Sunday, with café food orders taken until 3.30pm. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The site notes disabled access and that it is dog friendly. Tealby Road runs east from Market Rasen into the Wolds, so the shop is a natural stop if you are walking around Tealby or heading on towards Louth.
The Wolds Edge: website and opening hours.
Mountain’s Farm Shop
Map and location
Parks Farm, East Heckington, Boston PE20 3QF. View Mountain’s Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01205 362 167.
A Lincolnshire butchery family since 1852
Mountain’s was established in 1852 and has supplied meat from the heart of Lincolnshire for several generations. The family business is known for its Boston sausage, a traditional Lincolnshire sausage, and its farm shop is at Parks Farm, East Heckington, on the former Abbey Parks Farm Shop site. The website concentrates on butchery and does not say what, if anything, is grown or reared at Parks Farm, so if home-grown food matters to you, ask in the shop.
The farm shop combines a butchery, delicatessen and bistro. Alongside its own sausages and meat products, it sells fresh fruit and vegetables, a selection of fine cheeses, baked goods and sweet and savoury snacks. The Visit Lincolnshire listing describes the bistro as serving home-cooked, locally sourced food daily, including a farmhouse breakfast. Meat can also be ordered through the Mountain’s Boston Sausage online shop.
Visiting and buying
The Mountain’s website lists the farm shop as open 8am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The Visit Lincolnshire listing, last updated in 2021, gives different and shorter hours, so it is worth phoning to confirm before a special trip. The listing notes parking, toilets and step-free access. East Heckington lies between Sleaford and Boston, making this the most convenient of the five for the Sleaford, Boston and Fens area.
Mountain’s Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Vine House Farm
Map and location
Vine House Farm, Main Road, Deeping St Nicholas, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 3DG. View Vine House Farm on the map.
Contact: 01775 630244.
An arable Fen farm growing potatoes and vegetables
Nicholas Watts has farmed at Vine House Farm since 1964. It is a traditional arable farm in the Fens, growing crops such as wheat and sugar beet, with potatoes as a main commercial crop. The farm also grows fruit and vegetables, including organic produce, for its own shop, and keeps around 25,000 free-range chickens for eggs. Its interest in wildlife led to the Vine House Farm bird food business, and the farm processes, mixes and packs nearly all the seed it sells.
The farm shop sells home-grown potatoes, including 25kg sacks, seasonal vegetable boxes, free-range eggs and fruit and vegetables in season. Meat and poultry come from the Grasmere Farm butchery counter at Deeping St James, bread from Pacey’s Bakery in Spalding, and cheese from Lincolnshire Poacher and Cote Hill. There are homemade cakes, chutneys and pies, bird food and plants. The café seats 70 inside and 30 on a deck overlooking a wildlife pond and garden.
Visiting and buying
Vine House Farm’s website lists the farm shop as open seven days a week, 8am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 4pm on Sunday. The website does not list separate café hours, so phone the shop if you are planning a meal. Ask which vegetables are from the farm on the day, as the home-grown range follows the seasons. Deeping St Nicholas lies on the road between Spalding and Market Deeping, within easy reach of Peterborough.
Vine House 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 Lincolnshire?
Good farm shops in Lincolnshire include Doddington Hall Farm Shop near Lincoln, Redhill Farm’s Shop on the Farm at Morton near Gainsborough, The Wolds Edge near Market Rasen, Mountain’s Farm Shop at East Heckington and Vine House Farm at Deeping St Nicholas near Spalding.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Lincolnshire 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
- Doddington Hall Farm Shop , Doddington Hall
- Doddington Hall , Our History
- Doddington Hall , Our Food Story
- Redhill Farm , Shops
- Redhill Farm , What We Do
- The Wolds Edge , Opening Times
- The Wolds Edge , Visit Lincolnshire
- Mountain’s Farm Shop , Mountain’s Farm Shop
- Mountain’s Boston Sausage , Visit Lincolnshire
- Vine House Farm , Farm Shop
- Vine House Farm , Our Story
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.