I don't know what has happened to me but lately I've become a country girl trapped in the city and although I am really a couple months early, I've begun to put together a list of places to "Pick Your Own" seasonal fruit and veg on the outskirts of London.

1. Parkside Farm offers a huge range of seasonal fruits and vegetables including raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes. They even have a handy calendar on their website to let you know what's in season.

Hadley Road
Enfield
Middlesex EN2 8LA
www.parksidefarmpyo.co.uk

2. Garsons Farm in Surrey has over 40 crops and 5 seasonal flowers available for picking.

Winterdown Road
Esher
Surrey KT10 8LS
www.garsons.co.uk

3. The Barnyard Farm Shop in Kent also has trails where can go hiking, get out and feed the ducks and enjoy the countryside.

Oak Lane
Upchurch
Sittingbourne
Kent ME9 7BE
www.the-barnyard.co.uk

4. Spencers Farm Shop has cherries, plums, strawberries and an amazing 18 varieties of apples.

Wickham Fruit Farm
Wickham St Pauls
Halstead, Essex CO9 2PX
www.spencersfarmshop.co.uk



Once I gather everything, I will need to figure out what to do with it all. I've been researching canning recipes to come up with some ideas.

Here's what I have so far...

Tomatoes - for salsa, tomato sauce

Strawberries - jam, strawberry shortcake* (ok, this one won't be canned but so delicious I had to mention it anyway)

Apples - apple butter, chutney, applesauce and of course, pies.

Yum, I can't wait. Happy Picking!