If you’re looking for thrills in the school holidays, may I suggest the innocent pleasures of Rectory Farm (above) in Stanton St John (4 miles outside Oxford)?

It’s nothing new at a pick-your-own farm to punnet up your own berries, grapple with children cramming ‘free’ fruit into their mouths and consider whether you can actually be arsed to dig up carrots on the other side of the farm (answer: no).

But let me impart the sheer relief of having a decent cappuccino and brownie in a place that allows you to keep an eye on all your children from one central spot, while they trot around the bouncy castle, inflatable slide, ‘adventure’-style equipment and sandpit. I went today with 9, 5 and 3 year olds and they all loved it. New this year is an extended under cover foodie area, with indecently good looking cakes (above) and a good lunch menu too – perfect for when it’s sunny, or pissing down with rain – like from Friday until the end of September *sigh*.

There’s plenty of parking onsite, but please don’t forget to bring enough cash – the cafe doesn’t accept credit cards. The farm shop does though, for the excellent reason that you’ll probably spend a fortune in there. All the fruit and veg seems to have been polished – no mud or slugs in sight. My kind of shop!

Good for: Children of all ages, families with a spare hour or two to kill, foodies who want superfresh produce, couples who want to get frisky amongst the raspberry bushes, mothers who can’t be arsed to cook lunch (the cafe opens for food at 12).

Bad for: Unwilling chefs. What the hell do you do with all those broad beans and white berries?

Contact: Rectory Farm, Stanton St. John, Oxford OX33 1HF
Daily Crop Info – 01865 351677, Orders – 07966 246388