ENTRIES have already started coming in for our Food and Drinks Awards which celebrate all of the amazing produce our county has to offer.

The awards will celebrate the makers, the sellers and the innovators who are passionate about excellent food and drink.

To find out how to enter see below.

In the meantime, each week we will focus on one of the entries we have received so far. This week we focus on Tillington Court Farm which has been nominated in the Best Farm Shop category.

Court Farm and Leisure owner Nicola Gilbert said: “We have seen many generations of families that consistently love our produce and remain extremely happy customers.

“Cherries are a particular draw to the farm in June/July, with a huge following. Patrons travel as far as Birmingham and South Wales for what they describe as the best cherries ever.

“We believe that we represent the best of Herefordshire’s fresh produce within our farm shop.”

The farmers work the land sustainably and 2018 is the farm’s 40th year of producing fruit and vegetables.

And they are proud to say that 90 per cent of total sales is still their own grown produce.

They attend three to four farmers markets a week and have also started to supply village shops, farm shops, pubs, restaurants, and food centres. They also also provide fruit and vegetables throughout the year to Growing Local who deliver box schemes in Herefordshire.

They currently grow at least 17 different fruits and at least 21 different vegetables. They are all stocked in their farm shop and around 85 per cent is available for customers to pick their own.

They also have 80 laying hens, where customers can choose to pick their own eggs.

Nicola added: “We pride ourselves on being a family business and are therefore accessible seven days a week with knowledgeable friendly staff who really care about what we do.”

They also stock local produce such as meat and honey from other Herefordshire producers.

How to enter

WITH these awards we are asking each producer/business to nominate themselves.

Don’t be shy - we want to celebrate everything the county has to offer.

To nominate yourself you need to go to the dedicated section of our website: herefordtimes.com/awards/foodanddrink.

There you will find a form for each category.

You need to answer all of the questions with as much detail as you can and please remember to include your contact details.

We will be focusing on different entries over the next few weeks.

You need to be quick with these awards. The deadline for entries is September 26.

An awards ceremony will take place in November.