Sophie Farrah unearths some of the best local destinations growing their own...
Chris Davies
Orangery Café at Ham House
Set back from the Thames at Ham, near Richmond, the Orangery Café at Ham House is one of my favourite hidden gems. Nestled within a beautiful walled kitchen garden, it serves homemade cakes, soups, warm scones and good coffee.
Most of the fruit and vegetables grown in the garden are donated to Richmond Foodbank, though if you’re lucky, you might spot some surplus for sale in the gift shop.
Beaverbrook WeTheFoodSnobs
Beaverbrook
Near Leatherhead, luxury country house hotel Beaverbrook celebrates estate-grown produce at The Garden House restaurant, where the terrace overlooks its traditional walled kitchen garden.
Head Chef Adam Sharpe blends the homegrown ingredients with other exceptional local produce in rustic Anglo-Italian dishes, from herb-laced focaccia to a beautifully caramelised shallot tarte Tatin.
RHS / Georgi Mabee
RHS Garden Wisley
Between the Surrey villages of Cobham and Ripley, RHS Garden Wisley grows hundreds of varieties of fruit and vegetables in its World Food Garden and historic orchards.
Much of the sustainably grown harvest is donated to local charities, community groups and food banks, while some also appears in hearty breakfasts and seasonal lunches served at the elegant on-site Terrace Restaurant.
RGB Kew
RBG Kew
At RBG Kew, a large kitchen garden produces an impressive variety of fruit and vegetables, from carrots and heritage apples to root vegetables, chilli peppers and soft berries, all grown using organic, no-dig methods.
In Georgian times, it supplied the royal family at the adjacent Kew Palace; today, its seasonal harvest appears on the menus in Kew’s excellent restaurants and cafés.
The Tudor Pass
The Tudor Pass at Great Fosters
At Great Fosters, a luxury hotel and estate near Egham, Michelin-starred The Tudor Pass brings the produce of the estate’s kitchen gardens and orchards from plot to plate in striking style.
Led by chef Stefano Di Giosia (The Fat Duck, KOL), the intimate restaurant serves inventive tasting menus celebrating the finest seasonal ingredients, many picked just moments before reaching the plate.
© Historic Royal Palaces
Tiltyard Café at Hampton Court Palace
In 2014, the carefully restored Kitchen Garden opened at Hampton Court Palace. Originally created for William and Mary in 1689, it kept monarchs supplied for more than 160 years until Victoria’s reign.
Now, its harvest stars in dishes at the on-site Tiltyard Café, with occasional surplus sold to visitors in return for a charitable donation. And from late August to mid-September, keep an eye out in the gift shop for grapes harvested from The Great Vine – the largest and oldest known grapevine in the world.
hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace
Mr Hamilton’s Tea Room at Painshill
Right by the entrance to Painshill, the Grade I listed landscape garden at Cobham in Surrey, the estate’s 18th-century Walled Kitchen Garden practises sustainable no-dig gardening.
Freshly harvested, chemical-free fruit and veg are either sold at the onsite stall (no admission fee required) or transformed at Mr Hamilton’s Tea Room into daily specials, from vibrant salads and savoury tarts to homemade pavlovas.
Petersham Nurseries
Petersham Nurseries
In Richmond, Petersham Nurseries grows herbs, flowers, vegetables and more in its on-site kitchen garden. Both the restaurant and the Teahouse embrace a strictly seasonal, farm-to-fork ethos, incorporating homegrown ingredients into ever-changing menus.
The picture-perfect afternoon tea is finished with delicate homegrown edible flowers, while Haye Farm in Devon – the family’s regenerative organic farm – supplies high-welfare meat and fresh organic vegetables.
Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey's Cafe
In Great Bookham, near Dorking, Polesden Lacey’s prolific Production Garden keeps the café kitchen well supplied with fresh produce throughout the year.
As autumn arrives, seasonal treats include apples, squashes, pumpkins, carrots, beetroots, chard, French beans and winter herbs. There’s also a table in the Welcome Area where surplus fruit, veg and cut flowers are available in return for a donation.
Justin de Souza
The Loch & the Tyne
In Old Windsor, Michelin-starred chef Adam Handling MBE’s gastropub, The Loch & the Tyne, makes superb use of its own vegetable gardens and orchards, alongside the best seasonal produce from local growers and suppliers.
The regularly changing menu puts a luxurious spin on classic pub dishes, while the excellent Sunday lunch is well worth the trip alone.
The Woodspeen
The Woodspeen
Set within a beautifully restored 19th-century farmhouse near Newbury, in Berkshire, contemporary restaurant and cocktail bar The Woodspeen uses ingredients from its kitchen garden and the surrounding countryside.
Expect bold, flavour-packed dishes that make the most of the harvest, while drinks get the homegrown treatment too – the ‘25 Yards’ gin is infused with botanicals grown in the restaurant’s own garden. Well, it would be rude not to...
Sadgrove Farm
Sadgrove Farm
Hidden away in the West Berkshire countryside near Bucklebury, Sadgrove Farm celebrates the seasons with intimate supper clubs, bespoke catering and guided foraging experiences.
Held once or twice a month, its highly rated communal barn suppers are multi-course dinners built around locally foraged ingredients, house-made ferments and vegetables from the farm’s own garden. Weekly ‘provisions’ can also be ordered online.
Waltham Place
Waltham Place
Near Maidenhead, the extraordinary 220-acre organic and biodynamic estate Waltham Place invites visitors to explore its naturalistic gardens and discover its pioneering approach to sustainability.
Until October, tours can be paired with a hyper-seasonal lunch at The Barn, a café in a converted farm building serving produce harvested that week. And from mid-June to December, the farm shop sells homegrown fruit and veg, preserves, raw Jersey milk and home-reared biodynamic and organic meat.
