It is promising to be one of the best starts to the pick-your-own (PYO) strawberries season for some years, according to the National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA).
Strawberries produced under cover can now be found ready-picked in farm shops and farmers’ markets around the country, and growers in the south of England are now counting down the days to picking for their outdoors crop, with target dates at the end of May.
If the UK follows the trend observed in the US last season, PYO is scheduled for a strong resurgence as customers find it an excellent way to get quality produce at the best prices.
PYO farms in America reported significantly increased business in 2008, the first growth since the 1980s. In another parallel with that decade, sales of domestic freezers also grew last year, fuelled partly because more people wanted to store their harvest from PYO fields, and from their gardens and allotments.
Gareth Jones of FARMA said: “The time seems to be right for PYO, reflecting the fact that people are prepared to ‘do it themselves’ to get quality and value.
“Great value for money is just one of the advantages of picking your own fruit and vegetables. The only other way to get such fresh and flavoursome produce is to grow it yourself.”
Among the first PYO farms to open will be Sharnfold Farm, Pevensey, East Sussex where owners Dennis and Carol Hilsdon expect to be opening their PYO fields by the third week of May.
Others in favoured spots, such as Grays Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire will be open shortly after and by the second week of June most farms in the South will have opened their gates to customers. Brocksbushes Farm at Stocksfield, Newcastle upon Tyne, will be among the first in the North to open in the second half of June and farms in Scotland will start their PYO season from early July. FARMA members report that they plan to hold prices at last year’s levels.
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