I have been back to my local PYO (Pick Your Own) farm, Parkside Farm in Enfield, Middlesex (PYO Farm of the Year 2009) and spent £37 picking FAR TOO MUCH fruit and veg for a normal family to consume! But I got carried away. Subsequently I have been manically making jams, crumbles, ratatouille, salads and so on. Here are the prices I jotted down, compared with Tesco:
PYO                                                                Tesco
Sweetcorn – £3.50 for 10                     £5.00 for 10
Marrow – 69p ea                                      £1.20 ea
Plums – £2.49/kg                                    £2.50/kg
Blackberries – £4.59/kg                       £13.27/kg
Tomatoes – £1.99/kg                            £4.00/kg (cherry toms on the vine)
Swiss Chard – £2.49/kg                        not stocked
Beetroot – £1.29/kg                               £1.73/kg
Onions – £79p/kg                                   £1.00/kg (East Anglian cooking onions)
Strawberries – £3.79/kg                      £4.36/kg
Raspberries – £5.69/kg                        £8.30/kg
French beans – £2.49/kg                      £4.17/kg (green beans)
Squashes – 69p ea                                    £2.73 (butternut, each)
Spinach – £2.49/kg                                 £3.85/kg

I have tried to pick comparable items here (i.e. not necessarily the cheapest “value” brands). But you can see in all cases the PYO was cheaper and in some cases a LOT cheaper (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries). Obviously you have to pick the stuff yourself, but that is no hardship. My whole family went on a lovely sunny day and made a day out of it. We really had a good time! That’s why I went over the top and got so much produce. My recipe for jam in simplicity itself: take 1kg washed, hulled fruit and heat gently in a LARGE saucepan with the juice of one lemon. Crush the fruit with a potato masher as it heats. Add 1kg sugar (the type with pectin added is best – Tate and Lyle do one) and boil (KEEPING AN EYE on it or you will have boiling jam all over your hob, as I did) for about 30 minutes. Test a teaspoonful on a cold saucer and see if (once it’s cooled) when you push a finger through it, the skin wrinkles. Then pot into clean, washed and dried jam jars. Put the lids on tightly, then leave to cool and keep in the fridge (as I do) for extra shelf life. On another tack, here’s my recipe for savoury sweetcorn fritters:

Recipe: Sweetcorn Fritters (serves 4)
Ingredients:
3 corn cobs
50g plain flour
Salt and pepper
1 chilli, deseeded and chopped (optional)
1 large egg
50ml milk
50g Parmesan or mature cheddar (grated)
3 tbsp sunflower oil
Method:
Mix together the flour, milk, salt, pepper and egg to form a batter. Remove the husks and ‘hair’ from the corn and boil in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and cool before slicing the corn kernels off the cob. Mix the sweetcorn with the batter, plus the cheese. Heat the oil in a deepish frying pan. Put heaped tablespoons of the sweetcorn batter in and cook for 2 minutes each side until lightly browned. Keep warm under a clean tea towel until all are cooked. Lovely as a carb with grilled meat or fish, tzaziki (or ketchup) and salad. And kids love them too (minus the chilli).

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