The first of this season’s outdoor grown strawberries are now available at pick-your-own farms in time for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
 
This very British crop will be in plentiful supply this bank holiday weekend at Sharnfold Farm, near Eastbourne, confirmed owner and farmer Dennis Hilsdon. “The fruit has come on enormously in the last ten days thanks to the warm weather; the sun has brought out a fantastic flavour. “
 
Sharnfold joins a number of PYOs who have started selling strawberries this week, including Rectory Farm at Stanton St John, Oxfordshire (FARMA PYO of the Year 2012). The popular PYO has a plentiful supply available at £3.85/kg, as well as second grade ‘monkey nosed’ strawberries sold in the farm shop for jam-making.
 
Strawberries are also available further north; the Balloon Tree Farm Shop just outside York has been selling its home-grown strawberries for three weeks thanks to early fruiting varieties, and the PYO is offering them at £3.95/kg. As a Jubilee Special, the onsite Café will be offering ‘Strawberries and English Sparkling Wine’ at £5.85 in addition to its famous afternoon tea. Business Finance Director Diane Darley is extremely pleased with the crop. “They are absolutely delicious this year, gloriously red and sweet all the way through.”
 
Janet Allen, soft fruit expert and horticultural consultant for ADAS UK Ltd, advises many pick-your-own growers in UK,
 
“It’s been a slower start to the strawberry season compared to last year, but the rain was essential for good healthy plants and plump berries.  There’s now plenty of great-looking fruit out there which will be widely available from June onwards, including some fantastic new pick-your-own varieties such as Vibrant, Fenella, Serenity and Malwina, which are all delicious.”
 
Strawberries will be readily available at all UK PYOs over the next few weeks. The National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA) recommends checking with your local farm for opening hours, before setting out to pick fruit. For many farms the season, which traditionally spans June and July, is expected to extend into August and even September this year thanks to the development of later-cropping varieties and farm management. Look out for fruit grown on ‘table tops’ which allow greater ease of picking, and some farms even grow part of their crop under Spanish tunnels so customers can access the fruit and stay dry whatever the British weather does next.