When they came there were no buildings and no fruit, but the site had the right elevation for avoiding spring frosts, and was also a beautiful place! As well as building up the first pick your own business in the country they had four children (Judi, Tom, Chris and Bill) who helped (and sometimes hindered!) the farm as they grew up, and Tom decided to come and join the business after his studies a
nd working abroad for a while. He and his wife Alison also built a house on the farm and brought up their three sons (Andrew, Sam and Fred) so a good part of the workforce was family labour, and least until they decided to move to London! And as the wider family is spread about the world and often comes back to Ticehurst in the summer, customers may be served by Maynard cousins of all ages. Cathy, who looks after customers coming to the farm through the summer also picks, prunes and plants through the year, so can answer most of your questions about what is going on. And each year we have a number of temporary students on the farm, especially during the plum season when we are picking for the supermarkets. As well as pick your own and supplying local shops and businesses, we grow plums for the supermarkets and blackcurrants for Ribena. The business is continually evolving to meet the needs of our customers, our family and our community. We hope you share our love of this family farm.
