DESPITE the damp weather it has still been a good year for strawberries in Essex where the childhood tradition of picking the popular fruit is still going strong.

For the past four decades families have flocked to the acres of land at Mill Farm, just outside Thorrington where four acres of the land are farmed for strawberries every year.

Farmer Tom Glover and his wife Annabelle have been operating the business, farming and selling the strawberries to local shops as well as running the pick your own.

Tom, who was also president of the Tendring Show this year, says the season for strawberries began at the end of May this year and will continue for the next couple of weeks.

“It was been a particularly wet June but we have still had a good crop of strawberries, not a record one but enough to keep all the pickers happy.

“We found when it rained people stopped coming for a few days but then came back again soon enough,” he says.

The farm grows five different varieties which all come to fruition at different times, from the start of the season and then towards the end so there is always plenty available.

Tom explains the latest variety, Malwina, is now being picked, with the last of the earlier ones also still available.

“This will be the last stage of the crop this year so picking will continue for ten day to two weeks depending on conditions.

“It is going on a bit longer this year as the weather has not been so warm.

“We also still have some other varieties, like Florence, still available. The Malwina is beautiful dark fruit, lovelt to eat and for jam.”

And making jam, to sell, is exactly what Annabelle is busy doing at the moment - as well as working 12 hours days keeping the pickers happy.

“We are open pretty much 7am to 7pm so it doesn’t really stop.

“We have punnets that are ready priced that people fill up, they can have one for £2 or £5 and  so on, but we do also have people come along with their own bags and boxes,” adds Tom.

He says picking strawberries in season allows them to be eaten at their best.

“They just taste different, often sweeter, juicier and fresher sometimes. And the smell is just lovely. If you get them out of season at supermarkets they sometimes do not even smell like strawberries.

“That is why having them now is just so nice.  “We have people who used to come as children, coming back with their own children and they love eating them as they go along as much as picking them.

“Eating them while you pick is all part of it. You see all the little ones coming out of the fields with juice running down their chins.

“I think we also get a lot of visitors because of where we are, right near a lake with lots of wildlife, which children love.”

Tom says their farm is one of very few now doing pick your own and they also supply four local farm shops during the season.

“It has been a good end to the season, this last week the weather really improved.”

www.millfarmstrawberries.co.uk