C

an you tell a Ball’s bittersweet from a Hendre’sHuffcap? Spend the weekend at Broome Farm and you’ll soon know your apples and pears, as resident cider expert, Mike Johnson, gives you the keys to his 300-year-old cellar.

His family has been making traditional cider here for over 70 years, and during the apple-pressing season – from August to October – they get by with a little help from their friends. That’s where you come in.

In exchange for spending the day in the orchards, collecting apples under the late-summer sun, you’ll be able to camp here for free while sampling Herefordshire’s finest cider and apple juice. Tucked away down a back-lane in the gorgeous Herefordshire hills, this place is like something from an episode of the Darling Buds of May – and Mike is a real-life “Pop’ Larkin”.

After riding the tractor around the 65-acres of orchards (stopping off to meet the resident pigs, Sheila and Bess), you’ll help press the apples for next year’s batch before heading to the cellar for an impromptu tasting session with Mike and his band of merry helpers.

And if you don’t fancy camping, you could always stay in one of the smart B&B rooms upstairs (they’ve WiFi and everything). Mike’s sister, Sue, makes an amazing carrot cake, and as the day draws to a close you can sit outside with a cup of splosh and watch the sun drop below the nearby hills. Cheers.