Rectory Farm started to offer pick-your-own strawberries in 1981, the same year that Garsons Farm, Surrey started to develop this new and exciting retail format. In recent years there has been strong development the PYO offering, adding a seasonal farm shop, with butchery, and a café to add-value to the customer experience.

The farm is held on a tenancy from New College, Oxford at Stanton St John, north east of the city off the A40. Farmers Richard and Carla Stanley find that PYO dovetails well with the other crops grown for local and wholesale markets, notably potatoes and soft fruit. The land is flat and fairly exposed so Richard and his growing manager, Paul Clark, employ a variety of techniques to produce early and late crops from up to nine strawberry varieties and four varieties of raspberries. Asparagus has moved up the ranking in terms of significance as a PYO crop, with five hectares established and a further two planted this year. In most years irrigation is important. A sophisticated system, based on reservoirs and a pumping station was installed in 1964, extended with rain guns and mini-sprinklers. All PYO crops receive trickle irrigation.

In 2004 disaster stuck in the form of fire, which destroyed the original small
farm shop. From the ashes, however, came an opportunity to develop the site
to include a new café, run since 2005 by Graham and Penny Corbett who
operate an outside catering business. The butcher is Mr Finn, who moved his
business from a nearby village to Rectory farm in the same year, bringing a
new dimension to the farm’s retail offering.

Rectory Farm is a good place for bird-watching with the RSPB counting 105
species last year; a member of Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) and with
land under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, around 100 trees – different
species - are planted each year in addition to new hedges to create windbreaks
and encourage a range of wildlife.

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