Cedarbarn Celebrate Reopening

An award winning farm shop and visitor attraction are set to celebrate their 14th year in business next month after welcoming visitors back through their doors after lockdown.

Pickering based Cedarbarn finally re-opened their Cafe for outdoor dining when restrictions lifted earlier this month and have enjoyed a busy first fortnight with their Graze in the Garden menu, a selection of Cafe favourites made using their own home grown and local produce.

The family run business were also able to reopen their popular Miniature Railway last weekend for the spring and summer season.  The ride, which covers a 600m track and is open on weekends and during school holidays, allows visitors to take a tour through the surrounding fields with views of the kitchen garden, orchards, asparagus beds, new tabletop strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb.

Owner Mandy Avison, who runs Cedarbarn alongside husband Karl said: “It was fantastic to finally be able to open the Cafe last week, get all the team back together and see our lovely regular customers coming back, wrapped up and braving the outdoors. So far the weather has been kind to us fingers crossed it continues.”

Passionate about farming and food production and overseeing the whole process from field to fork, the team have continued to work hard throughout the last year’s restrictions to support other local producers as well as the public’s increased interest in the provenance of their food and the number of miles it has travelled. 

“We closed the shop for a month at the beginning of the first lockdown having changed overnight to an order and delivery business primarily dealing with the orders that flooded in from our regular customers and new customers who were struggling to get supermarket slots at the time.  Finding we couldn’t do both, we soon opened again and as the deliveries and safe collections got down to a more manageable level, we’re proud to say we’re still supporting the vulnerable in the area with deliveries.

“Like many businesses we’ve found the last year very challenging, some of the Cafe staff were furloughed however, we were lucky to be able to open the shop again and our chef Mike and his team have been working hard throughout producing roast meats, sausage rolls, pork pies, and coleslaw for the deli not to mention the baking and our homemade ready meals which gained a new fan base in lockdown.  

“Alison our General Manager and the team have been amazing and worked so hard, taking it all in their stride and adapting week to week with an ever changing business, we are so proud of them.”

As well as returning the business back to normal over the coming weeks as restrictions allow, the team are also planning a number of summer events, initiatives and product launches including their PYO Strawberry Season and the Strawberry Express as well as the opening of a Dog Cafe over the next few months. 

Mandy continues: “We’re really looking forward to getting back to some sort of normality and remain committed to delivering superb local produce and when times allow, to support the local rural economy with events, educational visits and fundraising.”

For more information on Cedarbarn visit www.cedarbarnfarmshop.co.uk