It’s that time of year already! When the first fruit starts to ripen and the Pick Your Own farms in Sussex get ready to welcome visitors once more. PYO fruit is a great way to keep your food miles down and support local and I’m sure my childhood summers spent picking raspberries are responsible for my great love of fruit. So grab your cartons and your recipe books and get ready for a summer of picking.
*Times and availability are weather dependent. We try to keep this post as up to date as possible but things change so please always check opening times and fruit on offer before travel.
Our pick of West Sussex Pick Your Own farms
For those in the west of Sussex, here are our favourite four PYO farms.
New House Farm, nr Horsham
On Old Crawley Road, just outside Horsham, this family-owned farm is fabulous for strawberry picking. Check their website for strawberry picking dates. They also have a good farm shop and tea room.
Roundstone Farm, nr Worthing
Offering a “guarantee that everything we sell at Roundstone ‘Pick Your Own’ Farm is 100% natural”, here you’ll find gooseberries, raspberries, plums, blackberries, redcurrants, black currants, rhubarb, pumpkins squash, marrows, courgettes and more. Check opening and availability times.
Dell Quay, near Chichester
An all-weather fruit farm with pick your own strawberries and raspberries. Later in the year, they also offer pumpkin picking and are a Christmas tree farm.
Paternosters Farm, nr Haywards Heath
Just outside Warninglid (and not far from Haywards Heath), this was the Sussex Pick Your Own farm of my childhood and it’s wonderful that all these years on, they’re still going. They have Victoria plums and damsons from mid August and apples from the end of September into October. The best place to check the latest infomation is their Facebook page.
Our pick of East Sussex Pick Your Own farms
For those in East Sussex, try these three PYO farms.
Tibbs Farm, near Rye
I first stumbled upon Tibbs Farm during the course of my Rye travels. They have a café with fabulous views and even more fabulous cake so my visit felt like destiny but it was also well in advance of the picking season. If you head this way, they have gooseberries, apricots, strawberries (when in season), raspberries, blackcurrants, plums, blackberries as well as tayberries, loganberries, tummelberries (no, me neither) and boysenberries (nope, but I want to find out).
Maynards Farm, nr Ticehurst
Having been to school in nearby Wadhurst, this is another farm of my youth! I haven’t been in a while but they appear to have every fruit you could desire, including blackcurrants, redcurrants, plums, Morello cherries, blackberries and rhubarb. Details of their opening season can be found on their website. 
Sharnfold Farm, nr Eastbourne
There’s lots going on here (including a farm trail) so it’s a good one for families. They usually offer PYO strawberries, blackberries, rhubarb and redcurrants.
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