This guide compares four Staffordshire farm shops that grow or rear some of what they sell: Canalside Farm at Great Haywood near Stafford, Packington Moor Farm Shop and Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery on either side of Lichfield, and Essington Farm at Essington in South Staffordshire. Each has its own butchery and a mix of home-grown and locally sourced food, but they differ in what the farm itself produces. 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 the middle and south of the county, so pick by where you live and what you want to buy. Canalside Farm, beside the Trent & Mersey Canal at Great Haywood, suits anyone around Stafford and is best for summer strawberries, autumn pumpkins, fresh bread and a canalside walk. Packington Moor and Bradbury’s are both near Lichfield: Packington Moor for lamb from its own flock, seasonal vegetables and a full café, Bradbury’s for a smaller, traditional butchery counter with home-reared beef and lamb. Essington Farm, on the edge of Wolverhampton, is the choice for its own free-range pork and Hereford beef.
If you live in the north of the county, around Leek, Uttoxeter or Newcastle-under-Lyme, none of these is close, so it is worth combining a visit with another trip. Opening days differ: Packington Moor is closed on Mondays and Bradbury’s butchery counter is not open every day, so check before you set 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.
- Canalside Farm , Great Haywood fruit farm since 1983
- Packington Moor Farm Shop , A 700-acre Lichfield family farm
- Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery , Home-reared beef and lamb near Lichfield
- Essington Farm , A South Staffordshire family farm since 1892
Canalside Farm
Map and location
Canalside Farm, Shop & Café, Mill Lane, Great Haywood, Staffordshire, ST18 0RQ. View Canalside Farm on the map.
Contact: 01889 881747.
A strawberry smallholding beside the Trent & Mersey Canal
Canalside Farm began in 1983, when the family bought a small holding in Great Haywood and planted their first strawberries that spring. Its farm shop was one of the first in Staffordshire and has since been extended twice, and a café was later built alongside the Trent & Mersey Canal. The farm grows soft summer fruit, including strawberries, along with kitchen vegetables and autumn pumpkins. Pick Your Own runs for summer fruit and for pumpkins in autumn, and there is a seasonal plant centre in the main glasshouse. The family describe the farm as a family-run farm shop, café, pick-your-own farm and events venue.
The shop has its own butchery and an artisan bakery, where bread, scones, cakes, pies and pastries are made by hand using organic and Cotswold flours. The butchers make sausages and burgers and cure their own bacon. Named suppliers include Mark Robinson in Gnosall for rare breed beef, Packington Free Range Farm in Tamworth for pork and chicken, Rue Barn Farm in Eccleshall for lamb, Wells Farm Dairy at Bradley for milk and Ross of Market Drayton for free-range eggs. There is also a deli and a café.
Visiting and buying
The website gives the farm shop’s hours as 9am to 5pm every day, including weekends and throughout the year. The café is also open 9am to 5pm, with hot food served until 4pm. Pick Your Own dates depend on the season, and pumpkin picking dates are listed on the What’s On page. There is plenty of parking, including family and disabled spaces; if you are leaving the car for a canal walk, collect a parking ticket from the shop, as a small fee applies. Ask which fruit, vegetables and bakes come from the farm itself.
Canalside Farm: website and opening hours.
Packington Moor Farm Shop
Map and location
Packington Moor Farm, Jerry’s Lane, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9QB. View Packington Moor Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01543 481223.
Home-grown vegetables and lamb from a 700-acre farm
Packington Moor is a 700-acre farm run by third-generation farmer John Barnes with his son Henry. The farm is mainly arable and keeps a flock of around 200 sheep. Henry grows vegetables and soft fruit on a five-acre plot for the farm shop, which his sister Grace oversees, while Henry’s partner Josephine runs Packington Moor Events. The shop says its meat is free range and from its own neighbouring livestock farms. In October its in-season list includes apples, pears, damsons, quinces, Jerusalem artichokes, Brussels sprouts, celeriac, kale, parsnips, pumpkin, squash and swede.
The butchery counter is run by Chris Baines and stocks Shire Meadows beef from South Staffordshire, lamb from Packington and Bretby, and seasonal game and venison from Cannock Chase. Cakes, pastries and pies are made daily in the Packington Kitchens, and the deli sells terrines, pâtés and cold meats alongside local cheeses. Local produce is marked with stickers in the shop, and Henry’s home-grown fruit and vegetables appear in season. The café serves breakfast, an all-day menu and lunch.
Visiting and buying
The website gives the shop’s hours as Tuesday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm, Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm and Sunday 10.00am to 4.00pm, closed on Mondays. In the café, breakfast is served daily from 9.00 to 11.15am and the all-day menu from 9.00am to 4.00pm; lunch is served Tuesday to Saturday from 12.00 to 3.00pm, with Sunday lunch from 12.00 to 2.30pm. The café advises booking ahead and mentioning any dietary needs. Look for the local stickers and ask what came from Henry’s plot that week.
Packington Moor Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery
Map and location
Curborough Hall Farm, Countryside Centre, Watery Lane, Lichfield WS13 8ES. View Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery on the map.
Contact: 01543 255939.
A fourth-generation farming family’s traditional butchery
Bradbury’s is run by Peter and Lisa Bradbury and their sons Jake and Ashley. Peter grew up on a Staffordshire County Council farm, and when his parents, Jean and Raymond Bradbury, retired in 2000 he carried on the family farming tradition. The family describe themselves as fourth-generation farmers who specialise in traditional breeds. Their cattle and sheep are naturally reared and grass fed on the family farm in Tamworth, a few miles from the shop, and the website says the livestock are free range and grown at their own rate rather than farmed commercially.
The shop is at the Curborough Countryside Centre, north of Lichfield. Its butchery sells home-reared and locally sourced meat, cut on the day of purchase; father and son Peter and Jake run the counter. Sausages are made from 100% pork shoulder, burgers from whole cuts, and the bacon is British, free range and naturally cured. The shop also stocks fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and pork pies, local honey, jams, chutneys, flours, artisan chocolate, local ice cream and frozen ready meals.
Visiting and buying
The website gives the hours as Monday closed (bank holidays 10am to 2pm), Tuesday and Wednesday 10am to 4pm for the farm shop only, Thursday to Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm. The hours list says the butchery opens Thursday to Sunday, though a note on the same page says Wednesday to Sunday, so ring before a trip for meat. Free-range bacon, gammon and Lashfords sausages are available on Tuesdays. Ask which cuts come from the family farm that week.
Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery: website and opening hours.
Essington Farm
Map and location
Essington Farm, Bognop Road, Essington, Wolverhampton, WV11 2AZ. View Essington Farm on the map.
Contact: 01902 735 724.
Free-range pork and Hereford beef reared since 1892
Essington Farm has been family-run since 1892. Its pigs are free range and live outdoors all their lives; the sows are a Large White and Duroc cross, and piglets stay with their mothers for at least eight weeks. The farm also keeps a closed suckler herd of pedigree Hereford cattle, so calves are born and raised on the farm and graze its fields. Neither herd is given routine antibiotics. The farm grows seasonal fruit and vegetables for Pick Your Own and the shop, including strawberries and many varieties of pumpkin, and some crops are sold only in the shop.
The butchery sells meat from the farm or from producers within five miles, including hand-cut free-range pork and Hereford beef matured for 28 days. It makes its own sausages and dry-cures bacon for two weeks, and its team won Best Large Butchery in the Midlands at the 2025 National Butcher Awards. The bakery makes bread, cakes and pastries from scratch, and the deli sells free-range sausage rolls, pork pies and cooked meats. There is also a restaurant, a plant nursery and local honey, preserves and cheeses.
Visiting and buying
The website gives the farm shop, butchery and deli hours as Monday to Sunday 9am to 5pm, and the restaurant as Monday to Sunday 8.30am to 4.30pm. Pick Your Own runs in season, with strawberries in summer and pumpkins in autumn, so check the events page before you go. Hampers and seasonal boxes can be pre-ordered by phone. The farm is on Bognop Road, on the north-eastern edge of Wolverhampton, which makes it handy for the south of the county. Ask which vegetables and meat are from the farm that day.
Essington 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 Staffordshire?
Good Staffordshire farm shops include Canalside Farm at Great Haywood near Stafford, Packington Moor Farm Shop and Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery near Lichfield, and Essington Farm at Essington in South Staffordshire. All four grow or rear some of what they sell, so ask which items come from the farm.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Staffordshire 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
- Canalside Farm , About us
- Canalside Farm , Visit us
- Canalside Farm , Farm shop
- Packington Moor Farm Shop , The farm
- Packington Moor Farm Shop , The shop
- Packington Moor Farm Shop , Contact and opening times
- Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery , Home and opening hours
- Bradbury’s Farm Shop & Butchery , The butchery
- Essington Farm , Our farm
- Essington Farm , Butchery
- Essington Farm , Contact and opening hours
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.