Summer Sun

With those glorious rays finally reaching us in little ol' England, it's time to get nostalgic with the PYO's.

I remember spending many summers visiting 'Pick Your Own' farms when I was young; clutching a punnet, being taught what to look for, frantically running away from bees, pricking my fingers on sharp spikes of some of the plants (those naughty gooseberries are particularly bad for this), searching for those perfectly plump fruits.. And more often than not, shoving the juiciest ones into my mouth before they even reach the basket. But shh, don't tell anyone that.

On Sunday, I went to Primrose Vale PYO & Farm Shop (on the Shurdington Road, Cheltenham) with my eyes on the strawberry prize. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. Because of the colder start to the year and the delay of Spring/Summer, I'd read that this year's strawbs were going to be notably bigger and sweeter, and you betcha, they sure are.

After scouring the fields for the fattest, richest red ones, I paid for my heaving punnet and headed on over to Westonbirt for a picnic in the Arboretum. With the sun beaming; pure bliss.