The Patch MK near Milton Keynes, Bucks, first opened their sunflowers field in 2019 and since then it’s gone from strength to strength. We’re just starting the sunflowers season at The Patch MK and they’ll move around each patch as it blooms. Keep an eye on their website for the latest updates. But actually the sunflowers themselves are a tiny part of what you can do here!
We first did a review of The Patch MK Sunflowers field in 2020, and we had a lovely time. The field was in full bloom then and I have some stunning photos. Each year they have taken it up to a whole other level. The link to book tickets for the sunflowers at The Patch MK is at the end of this review.
This review of the sunflowers at The Patch MK is based partially on self-funded previous visits and on gifted visits. They had no input into the contents of this review and did not see it prior to publication.
The sunflowers at The Patch MK
Until 2020 I’d never been to a sunflower field before though. It was really cool. This year, as we all know, it has been super hot and dry, so the sunflowers are not as tall as in previous years. There are still lots of different varieties and sizes though. There’s a couple of paths that have been cut through the field so you can wander around and be surrounded by sunflowers. There’s plenty of photo opportunities all over the place.
You can buy sunflowers; £2 per stem, 3 for £5 or 7 for £10. Turns out it’s REALLY hard deciding which ones to pick, especially on a day when they’re all pointing away from you. But I now have a beautiful bouquet of lots of different varieties of sunflowers.
The wildflower field
This year The Patch MK have changed how their wildflower field works because the weather has not been kind. Currently you’re not able to cut your own flowers as they’re letting them grow some more. This may change if we get some more rain (hopefully at night of course). It’s still beautiful, but sunflowers are back as the star of the flower show this year. They’re not the only things in the fields though…
The last footprint
As well as running a farm, running sunflower and pumpkin patches, Joe and Ros are keen conservationists. They have been inspired to commission a giant sculpture trail of endangered animals, all dotted around the flower fields. These are huge, absolutely sunning sculptures and the attention to detail is amazing. And they’ve all been made from locally sourced scrap wood and off cuts. The gorilla for example was made from a fallen ash tree from a farm across the road!
The maize maze(s)
In my 2020 review of the sunflowers at The Patch MK, I moaned that the maize maze was the only thing we found disappointing. Well they sure as hell went and fixed that! Firstly, there’s not one maze now, there’s four. Secondly, they’re epic! Thirdly, there’s an illusion maze which is so much fun!
As you drive in you cannot help but notice the massive dinosaur in the middle of a field! Well that dinosaur is part of the Jurassic maize and he has plenty of mates in there to keep him company. We spent about 20 minutes in this maze (it’s an easy one with almost no wrong ways to go) but the kids loved it. One thing I really liked was that there’s never too long to go between dinosaur stations.
How factually innacurate this one is did unsettle me, but I’ll get over it! Damn you Jurassic Park! Except the Chris Pratt films, those ones are perfect in every way. Anyway, I digress….
The Music Maze
We spent so long in here, even though it’s actually a very short maze, and not even maze like at all. There are lots of beautiful and really good fun musical instruments in here. Despite being less than half the size we were in here longer than the dinosaur maze because we were playing with the instruments for so long.
The Labyrinth of Illusions
This is the biggie! You start off going through a shrinking room and end up walking through a vortex that’s like being VERY drunk. In between there’s loads of different illusions, an anti-gravity room and a giant pin-board. I would show you the bum impressions we made but I’m not sure it would pass any content filters!!
The other attractions
This is another area where The Patch MK have really have got so much more than just sunflowers in a field! There’s a mini beach (which is shaded and has some sand toys), a bale mountain, slides, wall, cornholes, quacko, duck flight and a duck race. The duck race is the most fun ever. And I’m a winner!! We’re not a competitive family so we didn’t play on this loads. Nope.
The slides are always popular but do be careful with smaller kids. There’s quite a big drop off the end of the slide! It’s fine if they have long legs, but they end up landing on their bum if they don’t!! This year they also have a new slide called slide hide which looks very cool!
They also have something called roller bowler. Initially I didn’t know what we were supposed to do with it. You have to roll the ball over the hump without it rolling all the way back to you. So now you know.
There is also mini-golf, a “the Great British Trot-off” course, goats, cows, tractor rides, little land rovers, more slides, den building, a climbing frame and a climbing wall. Honestly there is so much stuff here. You can spend hours on end in the fun fields without going anywhere near the flower fields if you wanted to.
Food and drink
This year they have a lot of food on offer. There’s pizza, chips, cakes, drinks, crepes, sandwiches, breakfast rolls and sausage rolls.
But the highlight has to be the corn on the cob. It’s just under £4, incredibly fresh and gets served to you like this;
Our sunflowers field at The Patch MK
The Patch MK is no longer just sunflowers in a field. You can easily spend half, if not a full, day here! We were here for over four hours, and could have stayed for longer if we had done more of the mazes.
I really do feel like, for a review of the sunflower field at The Patch MK there has been a distinct lack of photos of sunflowers. So here’s another one for you! They are keeping their ticket site up to date and adding new dates if the flowers are still good enough. Click here to book.
Admission Cost
Tickets must be pre-booked. They’ve changed their tickets this year. You can either book flower fields only tickets (£6.95 per person or £12.95 for two people) or you can book combined fun and flower fields tickets (£54.95 for 4 people)
Parking / How to get there
Address – The Patch MK, Mount Mill, Deanshanger, nr Milton Keynes, MK19 6DG
Technically you’re over the border in Northamptonshire but it’s basically just outside MK.
Parking – there’s plenty on free parking on-site. It is in a field but it’s not hideously bumpy on the ol’ suspension!
Toilets
There are toilets, they’re temporary ones but not too bad
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Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
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