It's a cruel, cruel summer...

...but we can go to PYO.

Yes,  I am wearing white to pick juicy berries - what's life without risk, and all that.

One of the common misconceptions about Britain is that it is a place where you "just can’t get decent fruit". Although inaccurate and unfair, this opinion is not simply plucked from the ether, but has some basis in reality. I will readily admit finding high quality produce might require more effort, and sometimes cost you more, than if you live in France, Italy or Poland. It is true that buying imported strawberries at the biggest supermarkets will not disabuse you of a notion that strawberries here are spongy and tasteless. (Side note - unlike some people I know, I don’t subscribe to the view that supermarkets are the devil, and I don’t romanticise „peasant” diets of our pre-supermarket past. I have yet to read a food historian who does. If you want to know more, I particularly recommend our own expert Bee Wilson’s books and articles, and American food historian Rachel Laudan’s writings, and there are plenty of other authors who have studied food systems and diets of pre-industrial societies, and agree that supermarkets, while not entirely unproblematic, have been beneficial - we have better diets than our ancestors did, in no small part thanks to modern distribution and sale systems. As the philosopher John Gray stated: every advance in human civilisation, except contraception and dental anaesthetic, has come at a price, and supermarkets are a great example of that.).
There is, in fact, plenty of good quality fruit at supermarkets, too - for example, blueberries often come from Poland, and are just as tasty as the ones you can buy in a traditional, small grocery store in a Polish town. But to make sure of high quality and flavour - and that's the crux of the matter - you have to be in a position to be able to afford shopping at a more upmarket chain, such as Waitrose, or/and to spend more. That's why Brits cast a jealous eye to France or, in case of UK-based Poles, Poland, with their street markets and small, family-run stores. Annabelle Chapman, a bilingual journalist, who writes about Eastern Europe for The Economist and lives in Warsaw, tweeted recently: "Still among my favourite things about Warsaw: so much seasonal, local, (in this case) organic food, all package-free. "along with a photo of some tempting-looking fruit and veg.

Yet we are also at an advantage here. Firstly, the fruit and veg boxes. There are several large providers and various options are readily available in most postcodes, they are convenient and a good, though more expensive, alternative to supermarkets.
But by far the best option in summer months, if you are lucky enough to live near one, is a pick-your-own. I first discovered what a PYO was in 2005, soon after we moved from London to Hampshire. The first PYO I visited is a new housing development now - there is a parable about modern England there, but I digress.

This is our nearest PYO, Ansty, which also has a farm shop and a tea room

It is thought that PYOs were invented, like so much else, by compulsively inventive Victorians, but the modern tradition goes back to the 60s. They have increased in popularity in recent years, as Brits are eating more berries than ever - it is thought that both Instagrammers' love of smoothies and the Great British Bake Off have played a part in berries recently overtaking apples and bananas as nation's favourite fruit. The market is now worth a cool one billion pounds, so if Brexit messes it up, I fully expect Insta influencers to riot in the streets. PYOs were a new concept to me as, sadly, they don't exist in Poland (at least they didn't when I lived there), but now they are as much a part of summer for me as a hose-pipe ban, Pimm's and 99 ice-cream. A family trip to the nearest pick-your-own is a summer ritual, and a delightful way to spend a Saturday. You are out in fresh air, picking fruit for yourself, so you can do it at a leisurely pace, picking only the juiciest, ripest fruit - food doesn't get fresher than that. We went last weekend and left loaded with blackcurrants, redcurrants, white and pink currants, gooseberries and blueberries.

Fruits of our labour

We have already enjoyed a redcurrant mousse (too much, as I haven't even taken a photo) and a gooseberry fool. Bursting with flavour and vitamin C, they were utterly delicious.
Are there PYOs where you live?

Gooseberry fool