A family Summer tradition: Strawberry picking

I think we're now into our fourth year of Strawberry picking, and now Rohan's second. We accidentally chose a pretty hot day to visit once again, but that just seems to go hand in hand with the nostalgic feel of summer and fruit picking. So after filling out tummies with fish and chips at Chew Valley Lake we headed over to our local P.Y.O at Chosen Hill Farm.

The season was actually pretty early this year so we only just caught it and walking through the field you could smell the air was thick with the sweet and slightly sickly smell of ripe strawberries. Last year we started with the table strawberries and only discovered the field strawberries towards to end, so we decided to make a bee line for them first this year. Last year we also went a little crazy and ended up spending a little over what we intended, but it did mean we had plenty to make jam out of! So this year we were slightly more restrained and managed a respectable amount (plus one or two to taste on the way!) I also picked some blackcurrants to attempt to make my favourite flavoured jam, which I can assure you turned out really nicely!

I've got my fingers crossed that next year Rohan might be able to toddle his way through the rows and have a go at picking some himself. But for now I'm just happy to carry on the tradition, however it may look in the future!