Bedfordshire is a county of market gardens, mixed farms and small villages, and several of its farms sell straight to the public. This guide compares five: Browns of Stagsden, west of Bedford; Pecks Farm Shop at Eggington, near Leighton Buzzard; Priestley Farm Shop in Flitwick; Franklins Farm at Thorncote Green, near Sandy; and Knotts of Tempsford, north of Sandy. Each is a different kind of shop, so the useful question is which one has the food you need, and where it was grown or reared.
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 five shops sit in different corners of the county. Browns of Stagsden is a short drive west of Bedford on the road towards Milton Keynes and is the one to choose for home-reared beef, pork and Christmas turkeys from a working arable and livestock farm. Pecks at Eggington is in the south-west, between Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes, and suits hampers, deli shopping and coffee. Priestley in Flitwick, in the middle of the county, is a smaller shop for home-grown potatoes and vegetables and honey from the farm’s own hives. In the east, Franklins at Thorncote Green and Knotts at Tempsford are both close to Sandy and the A1.
Franklins is the strongest choice for free-range poultry, lamb and beef reared and butchered on the farm, with a café alongside. Knotts is a family day out as much as a shop, with animals to visit and a grill. Opening days differ a good deal, so check before you set off, and at every shop ask which items come from the farm itself.
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.
- Browns of Stagsden , Home-reared meat on a working Stagsden farm
- Pecks Farm Shop , A Peck family shop at Stockwell Farm
- Priestley Farm Shop , Home-grown vegetables and honey in Flitwick
- Franklins Farm , Free-range poultry reared at Thorncote Green
- Knotts of Tempsford , A family working farm at Tempsford
Browns of Stagsden
Map and location
Manor Farm, Stagsden, Bedford, MK43 8SH. View Browns of Stagsden on the map.
Contact: 01234 822330.
Turkeys since the 1940s and Shorthorn beef
Browns of Stagsden describes itself as a third-generation family farming business. Peter and Hilary Brown opened the farm shop in 2005 and still run it with their team, and the tea room followed in 2015. The farm works about 1,000 acres, mostly in Bedfordshire with a small part in Buckinghamshire, and has moved from conventional to regenerative methods with a focus on soil health. It grows oats and barley, some of which feed the livestock. Turkeys have been reared and sold here since the 1940s, using slower-growing traditional breeds, alongside Beef Shorthorn cattle and Oxford Sandy and Black pigs.
The butchery is the heart of the shop, with beef and pork from the farm, meat from nearby farms and seasonal game, all prepared by an in-house butcher. Suppliers named on its website include LB Stewart of Bromham and AB Fruits of Bedford for fruit and vegetables, Cottage Bakery in Ampthill for bread, Willen Ice Cream, Saxby’s cider and Warner’s gin. The licensed tea room serves toasties, sandwiches, cakes and scones, and afternoon tea must be booked.
Visiting and buying
Browns’ website gives opening hours of Tuesday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 3pm; no Sunday or Monday hours are listed, so treat those days as closed unless you hear otherwise. The shop is in Stagsden village, about five miles west of Bedford. In warmer months there is a tea garden where well-behaved dogs are welcome. Christmas turkeys are ordered in advance, so book early, and ask at the counter which cuts are from the farm’s own animals.
Browns of Stagsden: website and opening hours.
Pecks Farm Shop
Map and location
Stockwell Farm, Eggington, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 9PA. View Pecks Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: (01525) 210281.
Stockwell Farm, its cows and its own honey
Pecks Farm Shop was set up in 2002 at Stockwell Farm in Eggington, in rural Bedfordshire between Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes. It is run by the Peck family, who have farmed at Stockwell Farm for more than 50 years. The farm keeps a herd of cows and produces its own honey. The shop has won several local awards, including the FSB Rural Business of the Year in 2016 and the CPRE Bedfordshire Living Countryside Award in 2011, and its stated aim is quality, freshness and local sourcing where possible.
The shop sells seasonal produce, cheeses, meats, deli and gourmet lines, confectionery, frozen ready meals and fruit boxes, and makes up hampers, including gluten-free and diabetic options. Local suppliers named on its website include Saxbys Cider of Farndish, Mrs Middletons rapeseed oil from Lilley and Chestnut Candles of Leighton Buzzard. There is a coffee shop with coffee roasted on site, cakes and teas, and the farm also sells straw bales, compost and bird seed.
Visiting and buying
Pecks’ website lists opening hours of Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 3pm, and says the shop is closed on Bank Holiday Mondays. It describes easy access and car parking at the farm, which is a few miles east of Leighton Buzzard. It is a handy stop for gifts and hampers, especially before Christmas. Ask which items come from Stockwell Farm itself, such as the honey, and which are bought in from local makers.
Pecks Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Priestley Farm Shop
Map and location
Church Road, off Temple Way, Flitwick, Bedfordshire, MK45 5AN. View Priestley Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01525 712440.
A long-standing vegetable farm on Flitwick’s edge
Priestley Farm sits on Church Road in Flitwick, in the middle of the county. Bedfordshire Archives records that the farmhouse carries a Bedford Estate datestone of 1856, and that from 1914 the farm was rented by the Cole family, who grew mostly vegetables, including cabbages, peas and potatoes, with some cereals. Bedfordshire County Council bought the farm in 1956 and let it as smallholdings. The archive history does not cover the present shop, and the shop has no website of its own, so its listing with Flitwick Town Council is the best published source.
According to that listing, the shop sells home-grown potatoes and vegetables, fresh fruit, cakes, bread and pastries, apple juice, jams and chutneys, and honey from the farm’s own beehives. It also stocks meat from local butchers, free-range eggs, chicken and duck. Practical extras include barbecue charcoal, coal, logs, kindling, compost, greetings cards and bird seed, which makes it a useful everyday stop for people living nearby.
Visiting and buying
Opening hours are not published in the Flitwick Town Council listing, and we could not find a current timetable online, so ring 01525 712440 before making a special trip. The farm is off Temple Way on the edge of Flitwick, close to Ampthill and a short drive from the A507. Home-grown vegetables are seasonal, so ask what has come from the farm’s own fields that week and whether the honey is in stock.
Priestley Farm Shop: Flitwick Town Council listing.
Franklins Farm
Map and location
Trumpetons Farm, Thorncote Green, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 1PU. View Franklins Farm on the map.
Contact: 01767 627644.
Hand-plucked poultry, lambs and outdoor pigs
Franklins Farm is a family farm at Thorncote Green, near Sandy, best known for traditionally farmed, free-roaming poultry. The birds forage during the day and are shut in safely at night, then slaughtered on the farm, hand-plucked and hung. The farm also rears its own beef and lamb: around 250 lambs are born each spring, celebrated with a public Lambing Day in March and April, and the beef cattle winter indoors and graze the meadows in summer. Free-range Gloucester Old Spot and Large White pigs are kept outdoors. Turkeys, geese and ducks are reared for Christmas.
The farm shop has an on-site butchery where the farm’s own Master Butchers prepare every cut, and a deli counter and commercial kitchen making Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, quiches and meat pies from farm produce. It also stocks local sourdough, honey, cakes, gin, vegetables and kimchi. The Dairy Café serves breakfasts, lunches, Sunday roasts and home-made cakes, with coffee from Wooden Hill Coffee in Ampthill. Meat boxes can be delivered nationwide.
Visiting and buying
Franklins’ website gives Farm Shop hours of Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm and Sunday 9.30am to 3pm. The Dairy Café opens Monday to Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sunday 9.30am to 3pm, and its kitchen closes an hour before closing. Hours change on bank holidays and over Christmas and Easter. There is ample parking. Christmas birds are limited and orders close before 18 December. Ask which meat was reared on the farm; pork is partly sourced locally.
Franklins Farm: website and opening hours.
Knotts of Tempsford
Map and location
Tingeys Farm, Station Road, Tempsford SG19 2AY. View Knotts of Tempsford on the map.
Contact: 01767 669376.
Farmer Clive’s open farm, shop and grill
Knotts of Tempsford is a family-run working farm at Tingeys Farm, on Station Road in Tempsford, just north of Sandy. Its website names Farmer Clive and his team and says family is at the heart of everything the farm does. As well as traditional farm animals, the farm keeps alpacas, pygmy goats, micro pigs, llamas, owls and smaller animals such as chinchillas, and visitors can book animal activities, half-day experiences, parties and school visits. Entry to the farm itself is free.
The farm shop sells high-welfare beef, pork, lamb and chicken, locally sourced vegetables, bread and pastries, home-made pies and sausage rolls, ready meals made from farm produce, and local honey and jam. The website calls its food traceable but does not say which meat comes from the farm’s own animals, so ask at the counter. The Farmers Grill on site serves freshly cooked food and soft-serve ice cream.
Visiting and buying
The Knotts website gives opening hours of Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm. In school holidays it opens Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome, the shop has ramp access and much of the farm is hard standing. Tempsford is just off the A1 north of Sandy, only a few miles from Franklins, so the two can be combined on one trip.
Knotts of Tempsford: 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 Bedfordshire?
Good choices are Browns of Stagsden west of Bedford, Pecks Farm Shop at Eggington near Leighton Buzzard, Priestley Farm Shop in Flitwick, and Franklins Farm at Thorncote Green and Knotts of Tempsford, both near Sandy. Franklins and Browns rear much of the meat they sell.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Bedfordshire 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
- Browns of Stagsden , official website
- Browns of Stagsden , The Farm
- Browns of Stagsden , Farm Shop
- Pecks Farm Shop , About
- Pecks Farm Shop , Contact and opening hours
- Priestley Farm Shop , Flitwick Town Council
- Priestley Farm , Bedfordshire Archives
- Franklins Farm , official website
- Knotts of Tempsford , Farm Shop
- Knotts of Tempsford , Contact
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.