Pick Your Own Fruit and Veg

babyshoes

We decided to try 'pick your own' for the first time yesterday. It was a great day out, and the fruit was very reasonably priced, as well as being better quality than the shops.

It is definitely something one could do as a family with children, as long as they are old enough to spend a couple of hours wandering around - I wouldn't do it with a buggy or pram. I saw one family using a child on Dad's shoulders to pick the nice looking fruit higher up. Take a backpack to carry around the huge quantities of fruit you are bound to pick, it is easy to get carried away! You may also want to take a drink and picnic food if you are planning to make a day of it.

It seems to be generally acceptable to eat SOME of the fruit as you go along, generally to taste the various varieties and decide if you want to pick them, though it is a trust system so one shouldn't take the mickey. Some places seem to have a minimum spend per person (£1.50 was the price I saw) to help deter the whole families who spend a day wandering around eating fruit then turning up to pay for a single little punnet of the cheapest fruit/veg!

Overall, it was a surprisingly fun day out, and the fruit was good value too - we picked a load to make into jam. Just make sure you phone the farm in advance to check if you need to take your own containers and what fruit they have available that day, in case they only have types you don't like or a very limited range.

It may be a little late in the season for some farms, a couple of the ones nearby had closed for the season, but there are still some open into October. A good trip out for next summer holidays perhaps. I don't think I am allowed to post a link here, but the farm we went to was Peterly Manor Farm, which seemed to have a good range of stuff and a very pleasant farm shop too. I am sure there are many similar ones around the country.

Moneysaving fruit and veg buying combined with a free day out - perfect!:j