Greater London still has farmland on its edges, and a handful of farms there sell direct. This guide compares four: Forty Hall Farm and Botany Bay Farm & Shop, both on the old Enfield Chase in the borough of Enfield, and Holwood Farm Shop at Keston and Hewitts Farm near Chelsfield, both in the green belt of the borough of Bromley. All four are on the outer edge of the capital, 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 in two clusters at opposite ends of London. In the north, Forty Hall Farm and Botany Bay are a few miles apart near Enfield and can be visited on the same trip. In the south-east, Holwood Farm Shop at Keston and Hewitts Farm on the A224 near Orpington are close to the M25 at Junction 4. Forty Hall is best for certified organic vegetables, its own meat and wine, Botany Bay for rare-breed livestock and a seven-day shop, Holwood for a full butchery, deli and café, and Hewitts for picking your own fruit and vegetables.
Central, east and west London have very few farm shops of this kind, so for most Londoners a visit means a drive or a longer bus and train journey. Farmers' markets across the city are the nearest alternative for buying from growers directly.
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.
- Forty Hall Farm , Certified organic farm on the Forty Hall Estate
- Botany Bay Farm & Shop , Rare-breed livestock on the old Enfield Chase
- Holwood Farm Shop , Butchery, deli and café in a restored barn
- Hewitts Farm , Pick-your-own and farm shop near Orpington
Forty Hall Farm
Map and location
Forty Hall Farm, Forty Hill, Enfield EN2 9HA. View Forty Hall Farm on the map.
Contact: 020 8363 1393.
An organic mixed farm with London's only organic vineyard
Forty Hall Farm is a certified organic farm on the historic Forty Hall Estate in Enfield, run by Capel Manor College, which describes itself as London's environmental college. It is a mixed farm with a range of animals, including many rare breeds, and the site takes in a community orchard, a market garden and the Forty Hall Vineyard, which the farm says is London's only organic commercial vineyard. The market garden also supplies a weekly veg bag scheme, Enfield Veg Co., and the farm runs volunteering and viticulture workshops.
The farm shop says it sells the farm's own organic produce: vegetables, salad, eggs, flowers and free-range meat, with lamb, pork and sausages, and occasionally Red Poll beef, kept in the freezer. Forty Hall Vineyard's still Bacchus and Ortega wines and its sparkling wine are on sale too. Other local lines named on the site include Hertfordshire honey, ales and ciders from East London Brewery and New River Brewery, chutneys from Youngs Provisions and Old Bakery Gin.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website lists the farm shop as closed on Monday and Tuesday and open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm; another page gives fewer days, so check before a weekday trip. The farm itself is open to visitors on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm (last entry 2.30pm), at £4 for adults and £1 for children. Parking is at Forty Hall next door, through the stone gates, and the farm asks visitors to use public transport where they can. Stock is seasonal, so ask what has come from the farm that week.
Forty Hall Farm: website and opening hours.
Botany Bay Farm & Shop
Map and location
230 The Ridgeway, Botany Bay, Enfield, EN2 8AP. View Botany Bay Farm & Shop on the map.
Contact: 020 8366 4929.
Longhorn cattle, Dartmoor sheep and alpacas at Botany Bay
Botany Bay Farm is a family-run farm on The Ridgeway, on land that was part of Enfield Chase, the medieval royal hunting ground. The hamlet took its name by 1819, apparently after the Australian penal colony, because it was so hard to reach. The farm keeps Aberdeen Angus cattle and a newer herd of pedigree Longhorn cattle used for breeding and conservation grazing, a flock of rare-breed Greyface Dartmoor sheep, Valais Blacknose sheep, alpacas, poultry and bee hives. It works with Enfield Council and Thames21 on reforesting part of the land.
The farm shop stocks locally sourced meats and sausages, honey, jams and preserves, fruit and vegetables, fresh bread, free-range and organic eggs, cakes and biscuits, with a growing organic, gluten-free and vegan range, an oat milk fridge and a zero-waste dispenser. Gloves, hats and snoods made from the farm's own alpaca wool are sold in store while stocks last, and Christmas poultry can be ordered ahead online.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website gives shop hours of Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, making it the only shop here open every day. Christmas poultry orders close at 5pm on Wednesday 16 December 2026. The site does not mention parking, so ring ahead if you need to know. The meat is described as locally sourced rather than from the farm, so ask which items, beyond honey and alpaca wool, are the farm's own. Forty Hall Farm is a short drive away.
Botany Bay Farm & Shop: website and opening hours.
Holwood Farm Shop
Map and location
Holwood Farm Shop, Yellow Barn, New Road Hill, Keston, Kent, BR2 6AB. View Holwood Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01689 638381.
The old Holwood estate home farm, a shop since 2012
Holwood Farm dates from the 16th century and was the home farm of the Holwood estate, once the home of William Pitt the Younger. The architect Decimus Burton redesigned the farm buildings around a courtyard in 1820, and the farm worked as a dairy until 2006, when the land was sold separately. Gary Mercer and Sarah Clout opened the farm shop in a restored barn in 2012 because they found it hard to buy local Kentish produce. The site does not say that it grows or rears food itself, so treat it as a farm-building shop that sells for local producers.
The shop has a butchery counter with beef, including aged free-range Angus, lamb, pork, poultry, game, homemade sausages and bacon, plus a fish counter, cheese, a greengrocer, a deli, bread, cakes, gluten-free lines and local beers. Click and collect, hampers and gift vouchers are offered. The Mezzanine Café serves breakfasts, lunches and Sunday roasts made with meat from Alan's Meatfeast Butchery at Holwood, with CoffeeReal coffee and Birchall tea.
Visiting and buying
The shop's website gives opening hours of Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, closed on Monday; the café keeps the same hours. A fish counter is listed for Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 2pm. Keston sits between Bromley and Biggin Hill, a few miles from Hewitts Farm. The site does not mention parking, so phone if that matters. Ask at the counters which meat and vegetables come from farms nearby and which come from further away.
Holwood Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Hewitts Farm
Map and location
Hewitts Farm, Court Road (A224), Orpington, Kent. View Hewitts Farm on the map.
Contact: 07768 105669.
A family farm of 78 acres growing fruit and vegetables
Hewitts Farm is a family-run farm of 78 acres on the A224 just outside Orpington, opposite Chelsfield Lakes Golf Course. The family has worked the farm for more than 45 years, and the farm itself has been there for hundreds more. It grows a wide range of fruit and vegetables for pick-your-own, with early orchard fruit from around mid-July and pumpkins running into October. Bees are kept on the farm and in nearby fields, and from the first week of December it sells Christmas trees, wreaths and mistletoe.
The farm shop sells fruit and vegetables from the farm and from other local farms in Kent and nearby, with some imported exotic fruit; the farm says over 90% of its produce is sold loose. It also sells raw honey from its own bees, free-range and organic eggs from Borough Green, Owlet apple and pear juice, Dallaways cherry juice, Ringden Farms jams and vinegar, chutneys and biscuits. Free local delivery of fruit and veg boxes is offered.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website gives farm shop hours of Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, closed on Monday. Pick-your-own runs Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 4.30pm (last entry 3.30pm) and Sunday 10am to 4pm (last entry 3pm). The farm is about 600 yards from Hewitts Roundabout at Junction 4 of the M25. No postcode is published, so use the road directions. Crop availability changes through the season; there is an automated line on 01959 534666, and you can ask which produce is from the farm.
Hewitts 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 Greater London?
Greater London's working farm shops are on its outer edge. In Enfield, Forty Hall Farm sells its own organic produce and Botany Bay Farm & Shop opens seven days a week. In Bromley there are Holwood Farm Shop at Keston and the pick-your-own Hewitts Farm near Orpington.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Greater London 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
- Forty Hall Farm , official website
- Forty Hall Farm , farm shop page
- Forty Hall Farm , contact page
- Botany Bay Farm & Shop , official website
- Botany Bay Farm & Shop , the farm
- Botany Bay Farm & Shop , farm shop page
- Holwood Farm Shop , official website
- Holwood Farm Shop , about page
- Holwood Farm Shop , café page
- Hewitts Farm , official website
- Hewitts Farm , farm shop page
- Hewitts Farm , contact page
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.