Products of the Landscape
You might ask yourselves why the National Park is such a living landscape.
One answer is that it has provided for and supported its inhabitants for millennia with the fruits of field and forest. That’s as true now as it ever was, so this is your chance to sample some of the very best this landscape has to offer.
A cracking place to get started is Saddlescombe Farm high on the chalk downland where a prebooked farm visit puts you right in the thick of the sights and smells of a South Downs sheep farm! You can help with the shearing, bottle feed the lambs or for the more enthusiastic, get fully hands-on with a day as bona-fide shepherd! You can purchase individual cuts or various special packs of lamb (size dependant on your appetite) as well as mouth-watering mutton. And if mail-order, even the award-winning packaging is made from recycled sheep’s wool…
For the less carnivorous, why not enjoy the time-honoured tradition of Pick Your Own (PYO)? The fertile soils of the Rother Valley make Durleighmarsh Farm, a stone’s throw from Petersfield, a produce paradise. You can PYO top quality veggies and soft fruits (including the renowned South Downs strawberry) from April to October. Outside of those dates you can browse their farm shop stocked to the brim with local produce from across the National Park, including their very own asparagus!
