One dairy inside the area, four farm shops a drive away, and the questions to ask at each

I searched every town for farm shops in North Lanarkshire, from Cumbernauld to Shotts, and found one farm selling direct that I could verify: Dunbar’s Daisies, a milk vending machine at Cromlet Farm, Glenmavis, where the Dunbar family have milked cows since 1899. For a farm shop proper, you drive out: to Overton at Crossford or The Heron near Strathaven, to Carmichael Estate near Biggar, all in South Lanarkshire, or north to Falleninch Farm Butchers at Stirling.

Under my Apeel post, one of you asked the question everyone was thinking:

So how can we tell if fruits have been layered with Apeel?

A reader in my comments

From the fruit alone, you mostly cannot. That is the problem. (Here is what Apeel is and whether you can wash it off.)

What you can do is shorten the chain until there is nobody left to ask but the farmer. A bottle of milk from a machine at the farm gate, from cows you can see in the field, has nothing to hide.

Where can you buy farm food near North Lanarkshire?

Inside the area, Dunbar’s Daisies at Glenmavis, near Airdrie, is the one. It is self service milk from a herd that won British Friesian Herd of the Year in 2024. There is no website or phone, so check its social pages for any change before a special trip.

For a farm counter, the closest are in South Lanarkshire. Overton at Crossford, in the Clyde Valley, is the nearest established farm shop and butchery for Wishaw, Motherwell and Shotts, with its own Overton Farm Beef. The Heron near Strathaven is a farm shop and kitchen on a 122 acre farm with Blackface ewes. Carmichael Estate near Biggar sells venison, beef and lamb born, reared and butchered on the estate, a longer drive down the A73.

From Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Stirling may be closer: Falleninch Farm Butchers sits on a Charolais farm below the castle. Ring before you go.

• Dunbar’s Daisies Farm Fresh Milk, Self service milk from an award winning Friesian herd near Airdrie
• Overton Farm Shop and Butchery, Home bred Clyde Valley beef with a butchery, restaurant and takeaway
• The Heron Farm Shop and Kitchen, Farm shop and kitchen on a 122 acre sheep and Christmas tree farm
• Carmichael Estate Farm Shop, Venison, beef and lamb born, reared and butchered on the estate
• Falleninch Farm Butchers, Farm butchery below Stirling Castle on a champion Charolais farm

Dunbar’s Daisies Farm Fresh Milk

Map and location

Cromlet Farm, Glenmavis, Airdrie ML6 0PL. View Dunbar’s Daisies Farm Fresh Milk on the map.

Milk from a prize winning British Friesian herd farmed since 1899

Dunbar’s Daisies is the milk brand of Cromlet Farm near Airdrie, where the Dunbar family have milked cows since 1899, when Roberta Dunbar’s great great grandfather took on the tenancy. Her grandfather bought the farm in 1960, and Roberta came home from college in 1987, began grading the herd up to pedigree and took over from her father in 1995. She farms with her partner Gordon Smith on 100 owned acres and a further 85 rented. In May 2024 their Barncluth herd of 85 pedigree British Friesians, averaging 7,800kg of milk, was named British Friesian Herd of the Year by Holstein UK.

The farm sells its own milk direct from a self service vending machine at Cromlet. A community listing describes it as gently pasteurised, non homogenised whole milk from the farm’s own herd, sold alongside milkshakes in changing flavours and reusable glass bottles. A 2024 social media review put a 500ml milkshake at around £4 and said the farm also sells some local produce from the farm and from small local businesses. There is no farm website, and the main public channel is the Dunbar’s Daisies Facebook page.

Visiting and buying

Community listings describe the machine as open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the farm does not publish hours on a website, so check the Facebook page before a special trip. The listing says payment is by card or contactless only, so do not rely on cash. Take a glass bottle back for a refill or buy one at the machine. Ask whether any other produce on sale comes from Cromlet itself, since the milk is the farm’s own and other items may come from neighbours.

Dunbar’s Daisies Farm Fresh Milk: Facebook page and updates.

Overton Farm Shop and Butchery

Map and location

Overton Farm, Crossford, Carluke ML8 5QF. View Overton Farm Shop and Butchery on the map.

Contact: 01555 861214.

Clyde Valley beef from the Young family’s farm and butchery

Overton Farm sits in the Clyde Valley at Crossford, in South Lanarkshire rather than North Lanarkshire, and is included as the nearest established farm shop and butchery for Wishaw, Motherwell and Shotts. The Young family have owned it for over 50 years and trade as The Firm of W G Young. They say they breed and raise cattle naturally, keep cattle and chickens outdoors, and let animals and crops mature slowly, so produce varies in size and shape. The farm also grows potatoes, fruit and vegetables, and sells haylage, hay, straw, barley, oats and wheat.

All meat is prepared in the on site butchery, which will cut to order, and the online shop lists Overton Farm Beef alongside pork, lamb, poultry, game, pies, ready meals and cold meats. The shop carries seasonal fruit and veg, groceries, dairy and frozen goods, and refills reusable glass bottles of Jolly Jersey milk. The Oven at Overton, opened in 2014, is the restaurant and coffee shop, and The Grill at Overton is a takeaway with a covered marquee; both use the farm’s own produce and bread from a local bakery. Overton is a member of the Lanarkshire Larder food group.

Visiting and buying

The website gives opening hours of 9am to 5pm, seven days a week, with The Oven closed on Tuesdays, and there is parking on site. Crossford lies on the Clyde Valley route between Lanark and Hamilton. The farm also hosts point to point race meetings, so check dates if you want a quiet visit. Ask at the counter which beef is Overton’s own, since the online range mixes home bred and bought in lines.

Overton Farm Shop and Butchery: website and opening hours.

The Heron Farm Shop and Kitchen

Map and location

Kindrochet, Strathaven ML10 6QP. View The Heron Farm Shop and Kitchen on the map.

Contact: 01357 440147.

Blackface ewes and Christmas trees on a 122 acre farm by Strathaven

Emma and Angus Smith and their children have lived on their 122 acre farm outside Strathaven since 2008. Angus has a degree in agriculture, and the couple set up a flock of Scottish Blackface breeding ewes that came originally from his family’s farm on the Isle of Coll, and planted a Christmas tree plantation. A move into agritourism from 2018 led to the farm shop and kitchen, housed in a green oak framed building the couple designed, and a second building, the Heron Byre, was completed in 2022 for weddings and functions. The farm is in South Lanarkshire, not North Lanarkshire, and is included as a farm shop on a working farm within reach of Motherwell, Wishaw and Bellshill.

The website says the shop sells home reared and local meats, charcuterie, cheese and dairy, jams, chutneys, sauces, confectionery, cakes and bread, along with Scottish gin, vodka, whisky and rum, wine, beer, cider and gifts. Named suppliers include Battlefield Bakery, which bakes in a converted cattle shed about three miles away and delivers bread every Friday; Ramsay of Carluke, for pork sausages from farm assured outdoor bred pigs; a farmer and butcher at Thankerton supplying grass fed Aberdeen Angus beef matured for 28 days; and a Fife family farm rearing White Duroc pigs. The Kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake, with scones, traybakes and cakes baked every day. The Heron is dog friendly, with an indoor dog seating area, covered outdoor dog pods and two secure dog run fields that can be booked.

Visiting and buying

The website gives opening hours of 9am to 5pm Friday to Sunday, with the kitchen closing at 4pm, and 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday, with the kitchen closing at 3.30pm. The shop warns that putting its postcode into a sat nav will probably take you to the wrong place. Its directions are to leave Strathaven on the A71 towards Kilmarnock and Darvel, follow the brown tourist signs, carry on for about four to five miles through Caldermill and take the next right at the top of the hill. Ask which meat in the shop is reared on the farm itself, since the website says “home reared and local” without naming which is which.

The Heron Farm Shop and Kitchen: website and opening hours.

Carmichael Estate Farm Shop

Map and location

Carmichael Visitor Centre, Carmichael Estate, Carmichael, Biggar ML12 6PF. View Carmichael Estate Farm Shop on the map.

Contact: 01899 308169.

Venison, beef and lamb born, reared and butchered on one estate

Carmichael Estate sits on the A73 between Lanark and Biggar in South Lanarkshire, well south of the North Lanarkshire boundary. It is included because the same A73 runs south from Cumbernauld through Airdrie and Newmains, so it is one road for households along that corridor, and because few farm shops anywhere in Lanarkshire raise and slaughter all their own meat. The estate describes itself as Scotland’s oldest farming family business and says the Carmichael family have farmed these Lanarkshire hills for over 800 years. It keeps red deer for venison, Limousin, Simmental, Hereford and Angus cross cattle for Scotch beef, and Texel sheep for lamb and mutton, and says the stock is grass fed and home reared on feed largely grown on the estate.

The estate says every animal is born, reared and prepared on the estate, using its own on site abattoir and butchery to keep transport and stress to a minimum. The farm shop in the visitor centre sells the estate’s venison, beef and lamb alongside a selection of local produce, which a Scottish food guide lists as including honey, jam, eggs and oatcakes. The same meat is sold online with UK wide delivery and at farmers’ markets in Edinburgh at Castle Terrace on the first and third Saturdays, in Glasgow at Mansfield Park in Partick on the second and fourth Saturdays, and in Haddington on the last Saturday of the month. The Hideaway restaurant on the estate serves Scottish fish and estate produce, and the visitor centre also holds the Clan Carmichael room.

Visiting and buying

The website gives opening hours for the farm shop and Clan Room of 10am to 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday, and labels these summer hours, so ring the shop on 01899 308169 before a winter visit. Other days can be arranged through the estate office on 01899 308336. The estate’s wax model museum has closed, so the visitor centre is now mainly the shop and Clan Room. Since all the meat is the estate’s own, the useful question at the counter is which breed a beef cut came from and what venison cuts are in that week.

Carmichael Estate Farm Shop: website and opening hours.

Falleninch Farm Butchers

Map and location

Falleninch Farm, Dumbarton Road, Stirling FK8 3AB. View Falleninch Farm Butchers on the map.

A champion Charolais herd and a farm butchery below Stirling Castle

Falleninch Farm lies below Stirling Castle in the Stirling council area, north of the North Lanarkshire boundary, and is included as a farm butchery within reach of Kilsyth and Cumbernauld. A staff news page from NHS Forth Valley describes it as a third generation traditional family farm with sheep and cattle in its fields. Its Charolais herd, bred by Andrew Hornall, won the supreme beef title at the 2025 Royal Highland Show with the bull Falleninch Tommy, and the heifer Falleninch Valentina took the junior beef title. The Scottish Farmer notes that Falleninch also won the interbreed beef title in 1996, 1997 and 2003.

The farm butcher’s shop opened to the public in 2014 and sells fresh meat packs from the farm counter. Customers can also order online through the farm’s website. The website could not be read when this guide was checked, so the current range, prices and delivery terms are not confirmed here.

Visiting and buying

The NHS Forth Valley staff page listed hours of 5am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 3pm on Saturday, with free parking, but these are not confirmed on the farm’s own site, so ring before you go. The shop is on Dumbarton Road in Stirling, below the castle. Ask which cuts come from Falleninch’s own cattle and sheep, and whether any of the beef is from the Charolais herd.

Falleninch Farm Butchers: website and opening hours.

Why does North Lanarkshire have so few farm shops?

Coal, iron and steel built Motherwell, Coatbridge and Wishaw, and the towns took the flat ground. The farming that is left sits on the rural edges, and much of it is dairy and beef sold through wholesale, not over a counter.

As a plant based household, I want to see a market garden here more than another butcher. Until one opens, the milk machine at Cromlet Farm is the most direct link between a field and a fridge in the whole council area. That says a lot.

Why a farm you can reach is part of being ready

The UK Government’s Be Ready campaign asks every household to manage for three days if services are disrupted. For Scotland, Ready Scotland sets out what to keep in a home emergency kit, and ready to eat food and bottled water are on the list.

Knowing where the nearest farm is, and how long it takes to drive there, is part of that plan. Read The Be Ready Campaign: a UK guide to stocking your home with healthy, local food, and our emergency preparedness guide.

Plan your visit, what to buy and how much

Choose one or two stops that fit your route. Write down what you want, how much you need and what you will cook with it when you get home. If one crop is not in, change the meal, not the plan.

• Confirm opening days and any booking for the café or events.
• Ask what was grown or reared on the farm, and what was bought in.
• Check payment methods, and bring your own bags and boxes.
• Ask about parking and the right entrance for visitors.

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 once a grower gives you a picking window. Enter those dates and compare them with your visit. 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 List

Harvest Checker

Compare your visit with dates confirmed by the grower. This does not check live stock.

Use Harvest Checker

Use the tools with your My Ideal World account. Guest and free-account limits apply; paid members have unlimited tool access.

Next door, see the farm shops in Glasgow City, or go further to Fife and Perth and Kinross. Browse every region on the Be Ready Map. Also new in the Be Ready Map: the guides to East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk and East Renfrewshire.

Sources

• Dunbar’s Daisies, Roadside Stall listing
• Dunbar’s Daisies, Facebook page
• Cromlet Farm, FarmingUK: Scottish Barncluth herd named British Friesian Herd of the Year (9 May 2024)
• Cromlet Farm, Scottish Parliament motion S6M-13278
• Dunbar’s Daisies, TikTok review
• Overton Farm, home page
• Overton Farm, about
• Overton Farm, contact
• Overton Farm, Love From Scotland farm shop map
• Falleninch, NHS Forth Valley staff news
• Falleninch, Scottish Parliament motion S6M-18327
• Falleninch, The Scottish Farmer: Falleninch wins triple beef title
• North Lanarkshire, Wikipedia
• The Heron, home page
• The Heron, our story
• The Heron, farm shop
• The Heron, contact and directions
• Carmichael Estate, home page
• Carmichael Estate, our meats
• Carmichael Estate, visitor centre
• Carmichael Estate, Scottish Food Guide listing
• North Lanarkshire listings, Farm Shop Finder
• Cumbernauld Farmers Market, SBH Scotland
• Carrickstone Farm Shop, website
• Be Ready , UK Government emergency preparedness campaign
• Ready Scotland , Make an emergency kit

Research reviewed 28 October 2026. Farm websites, council listings and official sources support the descriptions above. No firsthand visit, current stock check or certification is claimed.

A whole council area and one farm gate. If you know a grower in North Lanarkshire selling direct, tell me in the comments. I would love to be proven wrong.