Maple Farm, Kelsale

01/09/2026

Tomato season is in full swing 🍅

At this time of year there should be hundreds of tomatoes growing in the polytunnel at any one time, some ready to pick, others still green and plenty more flowers waiting to become fruit.

It’s quite extraordinary when you stop and look at how much a relatively small growing space can produce.

William takes us inside the polytunnel to have a look.

You’ll find the tomatoes in our farm store as they’re picked.

25/08/2026

William is talking about eggs again. He’s always talking about eggs.

We are very proud of the eggs our hens lay here at Maple Farm, and there are plenty of reasons why.

Eggs are extraordinarily nutritious, including Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. What the hens themselves eat matters too. At this time of year, ours are getting nearly all of their diet from plants as they range around the farm, eating a mixture of grasses, herbs and seeds.

How we look after our hens, what they eat and the environment they live in all contribute to the eggs they produce.

Listen to William tell you more. He knows quite a lot about eggs.

13/08/2026

A look around the farm store with William.

We obviously grow and make a great deal of what you'll find on the shelves ourselves, but we can't do everything. So alongside our own eggs, flour and produce, we stock things we genuinely like from some brilliant food and drink producers elsewhere.

Here are a few of William's current favourites.

Our farm store is open seven days a week, 9am-5pm. Do come and have a look for yourself.

05/08/2026

We're growing more cucumbers than ever here at Maple Farm.

It's a vegetable that reminds you just how much freshness matters. Picked from the polytunnels and in our farm store within minutes, they have a flavour that's difficult to find in cucumbers that have travelled long distances.

You'll also find them on the Roman-style pizzas at .suffolk, made using flour that's grown, milled and processed here on the farm. Their recent cucumber sandwich special proved so popular we're told it'll be back before long.

Sometimes the simplest ingredients tell the story best.

01/08/2026

The calendar says one thing. The fields say another.

By the end of July we'd usually be at the beginning of harvest. This year, we're almost at the end.

For farmers, this isn't simply a change in the calendar. It's a reminder that our climate is changing, and with it the crops this country is best suited to grow.

Listen to William explain.

27/06/2026

22/06/2026

William is occasionally accused of being a NIMBY.

The reality is that farmers spend their lives looking after particular places and watching how they change over time. It would be strange if we didn't care about what happens to them.

A few thoughts from the farm on landscape, wildlife, tourism and the future of Suffolk's "Energy Coast".

15/06/2026

Farming would be much simpler if nature always behaved itself.

These are ermine moth caterpillars, and they are enjoying our apple trees rather more than we would like. On many farms the response would be straightforward: reach for a pesticide and remove the problem.

We take a different view. Our first instinct is to understand what is happening and whether nature itself might restore the balance. Sometimes predators arrive, populations fall away and the problem resolves itself. Sometimes it doesn't.

Farming organically means accepting that we are working within a living system rather than trying to control every part of it. There are occasions when the crop suffers as a result, and that can have real consequences for a farm business.

The challenge is made greater by a changing climate. Warmer temperatures can favour pests and diseases that were once kept in check, creating new pressures for farmers and growers.

There are no easy answers. But if we want agriculture to work with nature rather than against it, we have to accept that nature occasionally has its own plans.

Listen to William explain what the ermine moth is doing in the orchard, and why we have chosen to let nature take its course.

07/06/2026

Flour is one of those things most of us buy without giving it much thought.

Yet Suffolk grows vast quantities of grain every year, most of which disappears off in lorries to be processed elsewhere.

Here at Maple Farm we grow our own organic wheat, rye and spelt, then mill it ourselves on the farm using traditional stone mills. It's a slower process, but one that preserves flavour and keeps us connected to a tradition that has largely disappeared from the county.

Listen to William explain why growing and milling flour matters to us, and why some old grain varieties deserve a place in our future as well as our past.

If you'd like to try it for yourself, our farm store is open daily from 9am to 5pm, where you'll find our flour, eggs and other products we're rather fond of.

01/06/2026

Have you tried a cruller yet?

We’re very fortunate to have .suffolk here at Maple Farm. Founded by Alice Norman, Pinch has been serving its now-famous crullers for almost five years. Light, airy and made from choux pastry, they’re the sort of thing people happily drive across the county for.

You’ll also find excellent Roman-style pizza slices, many topped with ingredients grown here on the farm.

Perhaps most pleasingly of all, they use our flour. We grow the wheat, mill it here at Maple Farm, and it ends up in the food being served a few yards away. Food miles don't come much lower than that.

Pinch is open:

Thursday: 9am–2.30pm
Friday: 9am–2.30pm
Saturday: 9am–3pm
Sunday: 9am–2pm

Give them a follow: .suffolk