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Set in 1000 acres of farmland, Lychpole Farm is the home of Sompting Pumpkins. Managed by Caroline and David Harriott, each year we plant over 70,000 pumpkin seeds ready for harvesting in October. We are delighted to welcome hundreds of pumpkin pickers to our pumpkin field in West Sussex
each autumn to offer a pumpkin experience with a difference!
Caroline and David have tenant farmed at Lychpole farm since 2006. As part of the Sompting estate, the farm is nestled in the heart of the South Downs overlooking the south coast and neighbouring Cissbury Ring.
We believe that all pumpkin varieties are special and are proud of our wide range of pumpkins and gourds of all shapes, colours and sizes. We grow over 20 varieties of pumpkin on our farm and have hidden lots of them in a word search for you to find. Let us know how you get on!
Farming at Lychpole
Discovr the history of Lychpole Farm…
Traditional mixed farm rotation means that crops, the cattle and sheep are rotated from field to field every few years to prevent the spread of pests and disease. This means less pesticides are used and nature can flourish while the soil is fertilised naturally by the animals.
The last sixty years have seen many farms replace the fertility building phase and livestock with artificial fertilisers. While allowing much shorter rotations, this has had unintended consequences for soil organic matter (SOM) levels and soil structure. However, where crop rotations tend to be longer we are seeing higher levels of organic matter. Lychpole farm is a member of the Arun to Adur farmers group and is a part of a 5 year soil survey study which has shown that our soil has a very high worm count and high organic matter content. As part of the farm group we also work closely with Southern Water to reduce nitrates in the soil which gets into our water.
We have beef cattle and sheep. We grow barley which is used for beer production and animal feed, wheat for bread, fodder beet which feeds our cattle and sheep, maize and of course our pumpkins! Nothing goes to waste and each crop we grow leaves a legacy on the land to increase the fertility of soil and support our diverse farm needs.
Protecting our environment
For the better
Conservation and environmental impact is taken very seriously here at Lychpole. Sustainable farming underpins everything that we do. We have installed a borehole which supplies most of the farm’s water and planted large areas of wild flowers to attract bumble bees, declining insect populations and wild birds. There are also fallow areas which encourage rare birds, like the once almost extinct grey partridge, and wild hares. We also work closely with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and South Downs National Park.
