We headed down to Whirlow Hall Farm Fayre this afternoon and despite the grey skies and drizzle, the car parks were packed – two fields worth of cars and more arriving all the time.  A little bit of a rainbow did manage to sneak through:

Rainbow at Whirlow Hall Farm Show

We paid our £5 entry fee, which goes towards the Whirlow Hall Farm Trust - established over 30 years ago, it works with inner city children and children with disabilities and special needs to provide educational opportunities about farming, food production and the environment.  If you’re involved in a school, you can support their ‘Fill a Wellie‘ campaign to continue this work – check out how they’re doing so far:

Whirlow Hall Farm Trust's Fill A Wellie campaign

As we were pretty peckish, we headed straight for the hot food stalls to get some lunch.  There were hot roast pork sandwiches, pasta, venison and ostrich burgers, but it seemed right to tuck into Whirlow Hall Farm’s very own 28 day matured beef burgers, topped with Silversmiths delicious chilli jam.

Whirlow Hall Farm burgers

After the juicy burgers, we wandered round the craft marquee and farmers market – partly to escape from the rain, and partly in search of a little something sweet.  Lots of established and popular Sheffield producers were inside, including the Sheffield Honey Company, Catherine’s Choice, Heavenly Cheesecakes and also a few from a bit further afield, like Patisserie Lola from Chesterfield and Lime Tree Pantry from Ollerton.  Sheff’s Special had a good stock of their fantastic pies, puddings and sauces – if you’ve never tried their Mojo Chilli Sauce, get some fast from one of the stockists listed on their website.

Sheff's Special

It wasn’t all about the food though – outside in the main field, the Millhouses Dog Training team was encouraging visitors with their dogs to get involved in dog agility classes and the very worthwhile Sheffield-based Support Dogs – who train dogs to support people with disabilities including autism, epilepsy and physical disabilities – were out and about with their dogs too.  There was a busy Kids Zone with face painting and fresh juices from PJ Taste, and in the bottom yard Sheffield saxophone/guitar duo Verlan Musique treated the visitors to a little French musette.  I wish I could tell you what that was, but nevertheless, I liked their style.

We finished off the day with a mooch round the excellent farm shop, where their own sausages were on offer for a bargainous 4 packs for £10.

Missed the fayre this year?  Head down to the farm at a weekend to see the animals and visit the farm shop and cafe.  During the week they’re pretty full up with school visits so they don’t open to the general public on weekdays. Look out for the fayre next year, for a great family day out and a showcase for some of the best local produce that Sheffield has to offer.