Strawberry picking season at Brocksbushes

"I believe it's going to be a super year. The plants are looking really healthy, and we are very pleased.

"The pick-your-own side of the business has always been popular. We get lots of customers who say they can remember coming to Brocksbushes years ago with their mum and dad for the pick-your-own, which makes me feel really old!

"Children, especially, love being let loose in a field of strawberries.

"But I think this year pick-your-own is going to be even more popular. I think everybody is looking for value, and pick-your-own is. You can do so much with soft fruits; if you've picked them you're not going to let them go to waste.

"Take strawberries, you can turn them into jam, smoothies, ice cream, a glorious dessert like Eton mess, or even strawberry soup, which is gorgeous."

Buying foods in-season in bulk is one of the easiest ways to save money. And Brocksbushes has pegged its PYO prices at 2008 levels. Strawberries will be selling at £3.30 a kilo or £1.50lb, with gooseberries at £1.98 a kilo or 90plb.

Raspberries are expected to be ready for picking in the next couple of weeks, with blackberries, tayberries, red and blackcurrants and plums to follow.

This is the 29th year of pick-your-own at Brocksbushes, with 34 acres now devoted to it. Vegetables will also be available from mid-summer onwards.

Brocksbushes also boasts a thriving farm shop selling and championing local produce. The venture used to supply soft fruits to the supermarkets, but pulled out when they were asked to grow everything in poly-tunnels.

For Caroline the appeal of PYO is evident - and not just because of the savings to be made.

"What can compare with a freshly picked strawberry? Nothing compares with the taste of fruit grown in the fresh air. We grow real, old-fashioned strawberries for their taste, not for their shelf life."

Caroline expects most people will be turning their hand to jam-making. As a service to PYO customers, Brocksbushes hands out jam-making and preserving recipe cards. And the farm shop sells everything the would-be jam-maker needs from sugar to glass jars, pot covers and labels.

Caroline believes there is nothing more evocative than the aroma of sweet strawberries or raspberries bubbling away in a pan on the stove top.

And she added: "In the middle of winter there is nothing quite like getting your own homemade strawberry jam out of the cupboard and spreading it thickly on homemade scones.

"As you eat you can think back to the lovely summer day you spent picking the strawberries and look forward to the warmer days to come."

For those not game enough to turn their hand to jam-making Brocksbushes produces its own homemade strawberry preserve.