Pick your own

We spent a blissful couple of hours last Friday at our local farm doing just that. We were like a pair of over-excited children. We felt dreadfully naughty driving around and pulling up wherever we fancied in order to pick the prettiest dahlias, the plumpest cauliflower and juiciest raspberries. Oh, and a crunchy cabbage.

Beautiful squash were picked and Mr M roasted them to make wonderful Autumnal soup with a pinch of cumin (and some other secret ingredients).

The raspberries were so sweet. The bushes smelt heavenly in the lunchtime sun and one or two may have been sampled before making it into the punnet. Plucking them from their branches was incredibly therapeutic with just the bees for company. They have now been cooked down (the raspberries, not the bees!) and put through the blender to make scrummy coulis which has been popped in the freezer.

And the huge cauliflower and fresh sweetcorn have all been blanched and crammed into the freezer.

It has to be said that PYO is a really cost-effective way to buy fruit and veg as long as you have enough room in the freezer or are planning to make a large vat of soup. I mean four squash for less than £3.50 - that's unheard of in our neck of the woods!