Not unlike a crop coming to fruition, The Farmer’s Cart has grown beyond all recognition since opening in 2001; from its relatively humble beginning as a small shop and tearoom, it’s perhaps now deserving of the title ‘attraction’, with an expanded shop and café area overlooking several animal pens and the ‘Golden Goat Bridge’.  | | The Golden Goat Bridge |
But the incredible rise of The Farmer’s Cart couldn’t have happened had there not been a steady increase in the amount of people shopping and eating there. So what exactly is it that attracts them? According to the Sykes family, who own and run the farm, people are now more interested in where their food comes from. And that’s what the farm is essentially all about – the produce on sale is either sourced from other farms in the locality or it’s grown there, right in front of the customers’ eyes. As Edward Sykes says, it’s the freshness of the food that appeals to the punters, too: “the shorter the period of time from when it’s harvested to when it’s consumed, the more flavour there is”. In keeping with the idea that fresh is best, Edward insists that eating what’s in season is the way to ensure top-notch taste. One of the crops in season when I visited was lettuce, or rather, lettuces – every variety you could imagine, from your safe-bet iceberg to the slightly other-worldy looking radicchio. When asked to try the newly grown leaves for myself, I could hardly say there wasn’t time – after all, the journey from field to fork is hardly a long one. And I must admit, the journey from fork to mouth wasn’t exactly time-consuming either! | 
