Bring on the summer fruit!

23 May '04 2:20 am

I love the month of May in the UK, and particularly on the family farm. After a miserable start to the month this year, all that rain has worked its magic and the farm is looking healthy and vibrant. The freshness of the green assaults the senses, as does the prevailing smell of hawthorn blossom.

The promise of summer fruit is all over the farm : strawberry fields are speckled with white blossom; the gooseberries are hanging on the bushes, slowly fattening up; the currant bushes hang with bunches of as-yet unripe fruit; the raspberry leaves unfurl like ferns.

The broad bean plants are also sticking their heads up above the ground – one foot grown, another two to go! The sweetcorn hasn’t even been planted yet – there is debate over location, based on crop rotation versus how far people can be bothered to walk. Other newly-planted plants are left for a year to survive their early times before they are called upon to fruit.

I can't wait for the summer fruit onslaught Laughing