We popped along to Palette and Pasture’s Open Farm Sunday event at the end of June and what a revelation it was, on all sorts of levels! Based at Pyle Farm in Trudoxhill, just off the A361 on the way to Frome (around 25 minutes from Wells), it’s home to Paul and Rachel Candy (and their menagerie of animals) who, between them, manage a 200 strong herd of dairy cows and multiple businesses, including arts and crafts, seasonal pop up events and their delicious farm-produced gelato.

The Open Farm event is one of four pop up events (they call them “Country Markets”) that occur throughout the year that enable the family to showcase their brilliant businesses and provide visitors with an insight into the inner workings of the dairy farm. Here are five reasons why it’s well worth heading along to one.

Palette and Pasture’s Somerset Gelato is divine. My, it tastes good. I mean, really good. Flavours range from the classics – rum and raisin, strawberry and mint choc chip – to the more unusual – Jaffa cake, white gold and cherry and banana sorbet. The best thing is that the flavours change each week so you can always try something new. We opted for pear and it was a real crowd pleaser. The ice cream is made from cows milk rather than cream. According to those in the know, Pyle Farm’s milk is naturally sweet, so not only does their ice cream contain less fat, it also has less added sugar. Ideal!

We learnt some really cool facts about cows and dairy farming… whilst riding on a tractor! We hopped on a trailer to join one of Paul’s fabulously engaging tractor tours of the working farm, where we learnt some fascinating facts about cows. Did you know, for instance, that cows drink up to 150 litres of water a day? Or that they lie down for 12 hours a day but actually only sleep for 20 minutes? Incredible. The farm’s 200 dairy cows produce a massive 4500 litres of milk a day and some of this goes into making their delicious gelato, which is great news for us. Oh, and they supply local cheese maker Barbers too!

It’s not just cows. They have a host of other animals you can meet. Right next to the ice cream parlour, you’ll find the family’s smallholding which is home to a couple of pigs (in the summer months), pygmy goats (that you can feed), chickens and some geese. It’s a real family affair here, and you’ll probably be enthusiastically greeted by one of their friendly dogs too.

There’s a great outdoor play area. Our two loved the digger pit and push along tractors, but there’s also a pedal tractor race track and a mud kitchen. Perfect.

Your visit will support a great local, family-run business. In addition to the dairy farm and the fabulous gelato, Rachel, who is a talented artist, sells paintings too. At their Country Market pop-up events they also like to support other local craft and food traders so the events are a great advert for shopping local.

The dates for Palette and Pasture’s upcoming events can be found on their website but for the remainder of the year these are the dates for your diary: Sunday 27th October – A Day on the Farm: Zombies and Pumpkins; Sunday 15th December – Santa and Snowflakes.

It’s worth knowing that the ice cream parlour is also open at weekends – Friday to Monday 11-5 – so you can head over anytime to enjoy a gelato, visit the animals and have a play.