My Mummy, Flowers and Farm Shops Era

14 years ago, I was travelling the UK working at equestrian and agricultural shows. I was away for around 25-30 weeks of the year, away from home and at times feeling pretty miserable about it.

And then one day, having worked hard to accrue some much-needed down time, we decided to visit a nearby farm shop. In that one visit a new source of joy and, quite frankly, obsession started for me.

Back then I wasn’t sure exactly what it was about farm shops, but I just fell in love. From then on, every show we went to I had to find the best local farm shops and somehow carve time out of our work schedule to go visit them. Whether we were in the Cairn Gorms or Cornwall, I had to find at least one to visit.

I even started a blog, writing about each one I visited, simply hoping to share my joy and raise some awareness for them.

Wind forwards to 2026, and that obsession has never gone away. I don’t travel for work now, and that little blog is no longer, but I still find myself completely enamoured with not only farm shops, but also the farms and farmers producing the incredible British produce that we are so lucky to have.

Living my whole life in the North Devon countryside, being around farming from a young age due to my other obsession (horses!), attending an agricultural college, and now married to a farm worker, its no surprise that my love of all things rural runs deep. Increasingly though, with current government and world affairs, that love has evolved into a burning need to do something, not only to celebrate, but also meaningfully stand up for agriculture and our rural communities.

In addition, I am now a mother (she is currently sat with me enjoying watching the letters appear on the screen), and I want our little girl to get to enjoy a future where British farming and country life is thriving.

Last week, almost by accident, I ended up visiting 3 farm shops. It was the first time I’d visited any farm shop for a little while, and I remembered all over again how much joy they bring me! Unlike before though, I now realise why I love them so much: Because seeing farms thrive brings me joy. There’s a deeply personal reason for that, which is a story for another day, but it’s that simple, really – seeing farmers doing what they do best (farming!), finding a profitable route to market and creating a fantastic experience for those shopping and dining with them is completely wonderful to me.

Peamore flowers at South Molton Pannier Market

Now wind forward to today, I’m on maternity leave having a coffee with my best friend, having just visited our local market (the flower stall is an absolute must!), and now sat chatting about wanting to do something to support farming and really enjoy in this new chapter of my life, and there she points out the obvious – do what I love doing – start talking about farm shops again. It’s a win-win. Clara and I can adventure, discovering new farm shops, and I can write about them and share them with the world.

Not only that, but I have always wanted to learn and share more directly from the farmers and producers themselves, so hopefully I can do that too! (If you are a farmer who would be happy to have a visitor, let me know!)

So, here’s to my new era of joy – mummy, flowers and farm shops.

Farm shop fangirling edition 1 coming soon!