Whats ahead for Clarkes Farm?

Wow! What an epic festive period we’ve had - can’t thank you fabulous people enough for your ongoing support! We have been rushed off our feet here at Clarke’s Farm keeping folks stocked up with Christmas gifts and festive afternoon teas.

After a bit of a posting drought Kay is now keeping me on track with social media content for which I am very grateful(when business is busy I let that side of things slide a bit - which is a real shame because that’s when I would have plenty of things to show you all!) Kay is now helping by preparing & programming some posts for me, to ease a bit of my burden and keep you all up to date on what’s going on around here. She is also working very hard at creating our online shop for smaller items, we hope this will enable us to offer our gorgeous gifts to people further afield who are not able to visit us in person (or can’t be bothered to book a slot).

During busy periods it’s sometimes a struggle to get all the baking and laundry done whilst attempting to appear relaxed and confident with guests. I have been known to forget about baking in the Aga and discover a charcoal brick in the oven the following day! I can also be found rushing round the aisles of Tesco late at night in a panic to buy necessary ingredients for breakfasts, or teas the next day. It may only be a very small business - but keeping it all going between the two of us can fill every waking moment!

Kay and I both woke the wee small hours with anxiety dreams over minor details before our recent Christmas Market (which nearly didn’t happen due to an overnight snowstorm). It makes me chuckle to think that we stress so much about wanting everything to be ‘just right’ and then proper disasters happen! A couple of weeks earlier the gazebo we’d put up in preparation for our Shopping Event, blew away during high winds overnight!

The dump of unforecast snow the night before the the Christmas Market nearly made the previous weeks of planning, not to mention the vast amount of stock purchases & food prepared a total write-off, but thanks to the support of our local community we were able to go ahead along with other village businesses and salvage what resulted in a really successful day! The fact that people actually care about their local businesses, and go out of their way to show support when the ‘chips are down’ is something we will never take for granted.

It is so lovely to see people recommending our little business to friends and family, and taking the time to leave reviews, or ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ our posts on social media, it really does make a difference to the ‘reach’ of our content and has definitely brought us new customers - many of whom visit time & again.

If you’ve visited, you know our space for teas is limited (I like to call it cozy) - much to my dismay I have to turn down numerous booking requests because we simply cannot accommodate any more people. For that reason, I would always suggest ‘Special Occasion Bookings’ for larger groups are made well in advance to be sure of securing the date.

We have some fairly ambitious plans for changing the outside space in 2024 - whether we actually succeed in making it happen still remains to be seen! It’s a bit of a logistical nightmare trying to carry out major works whilst still keeping the place looking fit for peoples’ special occasion, and it’s also important we find the right tradespeople and materials to ensure the finished article is brought in on budget and to the the high standard we want to achieve. I won’t bore you with the intricate details - but we hope to improve the area at the front of the tea room with an enclosed, paved courtyard area to improve access for those with limited mobility, and also provide additional seating for the warmer months. We hope to get the bulk of this work done during our quieter months of January, February & March to have it all looking beautiful when Spring arrives and the garden starts to come back to life.

We realise the way we operate our little business is a little out of the ordinary, opening only for bookings and only offering Afternoon Tea- it takes a bit of an effort to arrange a visit to our little gift shop for a browse and is slightly inconvenient that you can’t just ‘drop in’ as you would with any other shop. This method of operation means we can continue to operate with just the two of us, keeping our costs down (which helps keep our prices competitive) and avoids unneccessary waste, which has probably been the secret of our success, when other small businesses fall by the wayside in these financially challenging times.

I also want to thank everyone who has chosen our Bed and Breakfast accommodation, I appreciate that the easy option would always be to book at one of the budget hotels in the city. We are delighted to welcome guests from all over the world who are visiting for both business and pleasure. Many are stopping off to enjoy Lincoln with its vast history, during tours of the UK, or looking for a bit of extra comfort whilst working in the area. While a good proportion of guests are visiting family locally, and book with us because we have been recommended. It is always a delight to meet all of you and offer a bit of Lincolnshire hospitality Clarke’s Farm style.

If you’re still reading at this point - thank you for sticking with me in my ‘old lady ramblings’ I know that I have a tendancy to ‘go on a bit!’

As 2023 draws to a close we want to send you all our heartfelt appreciation for being part of ‘bringing our dream to life’ it is an absolute joy to share this lovely old place with folks who like it just as much as we do! We send you all our thanks for helping to make it happen and send our very best wishes for this Festive Season and of course a very Happy Happy 2024!