Courgettes

Availability: Back in 2024

Courgettes are now finished for 2023. Sign up to our newsletter for early offers and more crop picking dates.

When to pick: Our courgettes will be ready to pick from late June to late July.

How to pick: We supply plastic bags for picking, however we always encourage you to bring your own plastic bags to reduce plastic use. You can pick any size courgette you fancy, and go for the vegetables that no longer have flowers. Simply snap them off from the plant, and watch out for the fine spikes on the plant.

Ready picked: If picking is not for you then we have a skilled team of professionals in the fields who pick our best every single day. You can find our ready-picked vegetables in the Farm Shop fridges. If you would like to order a large volume of fruit or vegetables for an event, we’ll be happy to help. Please contact us using our contact form or call the shop on 01865 358 309.

What we grow: We grow a variety of courgettes called Ambassador, which are dark green and sweet.

Plan your visit to Rectory Farm pick your own.

Recipe Ideas

Courgette Cake

Ingredients:

150g sugar
100g butter or margarine
75ml oil
2 eggs
125g sour cream
290g plain flour
240g courgette, grated (3 small courgettes)
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
100g chocolate, chopped

Method:

Cream the butter.
Add the sugar and oil.
Add the eggs, vanilla and sour cream.
Sift in the dry ingredients.
Stir in the courgette.
Spoon the mixture into a cake tin or 9×13” dish.
Sprinkle the top with the chocolate.
Place into a preheated oven at 170°C for 40-50 mins, or until a knife comes out clean.
If the top is cooking too quickly, cover with some baking parchment.
Top with icing, or enjoy with cream!

Check out our Courgette Falafels recipe too! Recipes by Ben and Julia at Rethink Cooking .

Also available today

Potatoes

Available: now

Sacks of our Saxon, Jelly and Mozart potatoes are available in the farm shop from the autumn. Read more

Rhubarb

Available: PYO open now

Our 'Ruby Red' variety rhubarb is vibrant and sweet, and typically ready to pick from mid-April to mid-June. Read more

Asparagus

Available: PYO open now

The English asparagus season traditionally runs from St George's Day until Midsummer. Read more

farm shop

We sell all our own homegrown produce when in season - including several varieties of our own potatoes - picked and on the shelves within a few hours. We work hard to source the best quality local products from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and The Cotswolds. In our fridges you’ll find local meat, pies and sausage rolls from Eadles Farm in neighbouring Beckley village, chicken, lamb and beef from D'Oyley's Farm in Stadhampton, award-winning organic cheeses from Nettlebed Creamery, and traditional farmhouse Cotswold Butter – plus all manner of condiments and cooking sauces, baking supplies, biscuits, pantry essentials, free range eggs and milk from Oxfordshire farms and dairies. Our bread arrives each morning from Oxford’s Natural Bread Company and Degustibus artisan bakers in Abingdon.

help us to reduce waste

Please try wherever possible to bring your own containers and carrier bags when you visit our Farm Shop and PYO. We offer a discount on all our PYO fruit and vegetables when you bring your own container - do good and save money!

Lots of small containers for PYO are better than one large one, as soft fruit will easily bruise and squash at the bottom of a deep container.

Use our "bring your own weigh station" to weigh your containers before picking – we can then deduct these from the weight of your fruit when you come to pay at the end.

Remember to bring your own 1 litre bottle for milk or buy a Rectory Farm glass bottle in the shop.

pick your own

Come and pick your own Oxfordshire fruit, vegetables and flowers from our 45 acres of colourful produce, all grown just for you.

You can enjoy Rectory Farm produce practically all year round - it simply doesn't get fresher than picking your own. Start with asparagus brunches and rhubarb tarts and crumbles in April, and then enjoy a long summer of strawberries, artichoke, broad beans, courgettes, raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries and blackcurrants.

Autumn brings a hearty crop of sweetcorn and pumpkins, and our many varieties of potatoes are available to buy all year round, from baby salad potatoes to red and white spuds perfect for baking, mashing, roasting and boiling.

Find out more

PYO

The Rectory Farm picking season runs from April - October, starting with asparagus and finishing with pumpkins.

Our strawberries ripen up at the start of May and finish into September. Check out our PYO page to see what's in season when, and for lots of recipe ideas.

Plan your visit

Enjoy a day out at Rectory Farm picking all your favourite fruit and vegetables to take home and enjoy. Remember to bring your own punnets and carrier bags to help us reduce plastic use.

Visit the shop from March - December to stock up on kitchen essentials and all our ready-picked fruit and vegetables if you’re short on time.

rectory farm cafe

Join us for coffee and locally baked pastries, a pot of tea and a slice of homemade cake or a cool ice-cream topped with a flake.

We have both indoor seating and outdoor seating (covered and uncovered) and plenty of space for families and groups to gather and catch up over good food and drink.