'It's a nice, cheap day out': Inside the Leeds farm with more than 20,000 pick-your-own sunflowers
Kemp Farm in Horsforth offers a summer attraction with 20,000 sunflowers, fruit picking, and tractor rides
A family-run farm on the outskirts of Leeds is drawing hundreds of visitors this summer with a dazzling display of more than 20,000 sunflowers.
Kemps Farm in Horsforth, best known to many for its pumpkin picking in the autumn, has transformed into a colourful summer attraction where visitors can wander through towering sunflowers and wildflower patches, and pick their own strawberries and raspberries.
Farmer Joe Kemp says it's the mix of experiences and value for money that keeps people coming back.
“We’ve got the sunflowers on the farm, a bit of wildflowers, strawberries and raspberries as well, and then obviously we’ve got the tractor-trailer ride,” he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “It’s great for all the families to come down.”
The farm attracts a broad crowd: young families with children, friends looking for a day out, and keen photographers searching for a photo opportunity among the flowers.
Many visitors also leave the farm with baskets of hand-picked fruit.
Kemp says feedback this year has been “really, really amazing”, with visitors praising both the experience and the price.
“We’re not charging too much and you do get a lot back,” he said. “Ticket money doesn’t cost much and there’s quite a lot thrown in - the wildflowers, the tractor-trailer rides - so it’s a nice, cheap day out for a family or someone who wants a few photo opportunities as well.”
The recent hot weather has been a mixed blessing for growers around the country, with droughts declared across large parts of England. But at Kemp Farm, it has largely been a boost.
The heat has ripened the strawberries more quickly and made them slightly smaller than last year, but crucially, dry weekends have helped keep visitors coming.
The sunshine has also given an unexpected head start to the farm’s famous pumpkins, which are already “further ahead” than Kemp has ever seen, promising a strong autumn season.
The fields are closed on Mondays but open for the rest of the week. And according to Kemp, now is the best time to visit: “I'd imagine that sunflowers will go on for about another three weeks. Wildflowers about another three weeks. Strawberries about two weeks, and raspberries about three weeks.”