Food and Farming

Visit the Village Dairy  – ¼ day

The village dairy is just a short walk from Hooke Court. Learn what it's like to be a dairy farmer. Meet the bull, feed the calves and watch the herd being milked. Learn the whole process of milking and how it gets to our shops. 

Learn about Hooke Court Animals, Poly Tunnel - ¼ day

Take a walk around our small holding and animals on site and learn about their breed, husbandry and care. Spend time in our poly tunnel and learn about the food we are growing. Learn about planting, maintaining, harvesting and seasonality. 

Kneading, Rubbing and Crumbling – ½ day

Learn how to make bread, pastry and crumble mixtures. Hands on for all children making a variety of recipes. Learn how to make a quick yeasted bread dough, have fun kneading the dough, shape into rolls, prove and bake. Learn how to make a flat bread like focaccia and flavour with olive oil and rosemary.  

Learn the rubbing in method to make a rich short crust pastry, rolling out, cutting and making mini quiches and fruit scones.

Make a crumble mixture and learn how to turn it into a fruity pudding or savoury topping. Learn how to make your own butter too.

Finish with a grand tasting at the end of the session.

Sauce and Soup Investigation – ½ day

Learn how to cook your food from scratch using seasonal and local produce. Make a variety of soups from chicken and sweetcorn, mushroom, carrot and orange, leek and potato or a simple but delicious cream of tomato soup. Learn how to chop, cook, blend and taste. Make your sauce bases into a delicious meal. Learn how to make a smooth, white sauce and turn it into a tasty cheese sauce - then make into a macaroni cheese bake. Make a herb, garlic and tomato sauce and create a meatball dish to impress your friends.

Taste test challenges will be undertaken to see if you can taste the difference between home cooked food and ready-made supermarket varieties. Learn about the carbon footprint of you food too.

Spice Trail – ½ day

Spices have been around since ancient times. This half day is all about learning where our spices come from, how they are grown and how to use them simply in our everyday food. Bark, pods, berries and seeds will be used in a cooking session around the world.

Make a fresh Thai green curry paste with lemongrass, coriander seeds, chillies and cook a delicious, fragrant chicken ro vegetable broth with noodles.

Learn about spices from India and use cumin, cardamom, cinamon and fennel seeds in a spicy lentil dhal and serve with quick spiced flat breads.

Cook a spiced Mexican black bean soup, served with spiced corn cakes or muffins.

Choose a fusion of flavours with African, Creole, Cajun, Middle Eastern, Indian South Asian or Chinese cooking. This day can be tailored to suit all school projects.

Cook your own Lunch – ½ day

Visit our very own on site poly tunnel to harvest seasonal produce that can be used alongside local ingredients. Learn how to make soups, bread rolls, mini quiches, scones, butter and jam. Learn how to weigh out and measure ingredients and follow your own recipe. Chopping vegetables, seasoning soup, kneading bread dough, making pastry and rolling out. Spend some time learning about where our food comes from, nutrition and how we can eat a healthy diet. Taste different foods and learn about carbon footprint and our food miles. Enjoy a grand tasting at the end and make sure you still have room for lunch!

21st Century Food & Farming Cookery – ½ day

Spend some time learning about where our food comes from, seasonality, nutrition and carbon footprint in a fun way through a series of games, visuals, tastings and visits. Followed by hands on cooking at a number of cookery stations. Learn how to cook from scratch, weigh out ingredients and follow a recipe. You'll be making seasonal soups, bread rolls, fruit scones, home-made butter and jam. Also, learn how to gut, clean, stuff and cook trout from the local trout farm. 

Learn how to press apples from the Hooke Court orchard and taste the juice, followed by a tasting session of all the food cooked that morning.

Paint and Plant a Pot – evening

Paint your very own plant pot and plant a tomato seed to take home where if it is looked after properly may produce something delicious to eat.

Rural crafts – evening

Try your hand at quilling or decoupage to take back home.

The Answer Lies in the Soil – evening

Make compost and learn about our wormery. Help to separate out waste to promote our own compost heaps.