Choose the pick of the bunch at Surrey's finest pick-your-own farms

Pick-your-own season is just about our favourite time of year, because there's no better way to combine getting some exercise outdoors with seasonal, healthy eating than spending a few hours plucking the ripest fruits at your local PYO farm.

Since the first pick-your-own farms sprang up in the 1960s, they've had mixed fortunes: a boom in the 70s and 80s saw many smaller farms convert to PYO, only for a drop in interest in the 90s to see many of them close their fields to the public. But with the rise of the local food movement in recent years, more and more people are finding satisfaction in choosing their own fruit and veg straight from the ground.

As well as being a great source of the freshest produce, picking your own offers other benefits, like educating children. Although the main goal for kids is always to pick as many strawberries as possible, they're subconsciously learning about where their food comes from. Not only that, but the physical work of picking the crops and being out in the fresh air is a good, healthy activity for people of all ages.

Surrey is home to some of the country's best pick-your-own farms, so we've put together a guide to three of our members who just happen to be some of the best place to pick!

Garsons, Esher

Family-owned Garsons is the largest pick-your-own farm in the UK, boasting 150 acres of fields on the banks of the River Mole where you can choose from more than 40 crops. The picking season begins in late May or early June with asparagus and strawberries, and continues right through to October with autumnal pumpkins, squash and more.

Having started out in 1871 as a wholesale grower supplying traders at London's Borough Market, the farm switched to pick-your-own in the 1980s as supermarket shopping became the norm. This year, Garsons celebrates 35 years of pick-your-own at its farm, in the village of West End near Esher, so there's never been a better time to visit.

Crockford Bridge Farm, Addlestone

You'll find Crockford Bridge Farm on the outskirts of Addlestone, nestled in a crook of the River Wey. With 20 different crops to choose from between May and October, plus the added bonus of home-grown Christmas trees in November and December, you'll find everyone's favourites.

Crockford Bridge Farm is keen to note that it uses a system of integrated crop management to avoid the use of chemical insecticides and herbicides, by encouraging natural predators to eat the pests. And it also bills itself as the closest pick-your-own farm to London, so if you're looking for a day away from the Big Smoke, it couldn't be more perfect.

Secretts, Milford

Secretts at Hurst Farm near Godalming has been growing since 1937 and is still in the Secrett family today. The farm grows a wide range of fruit and vegetable crops for picking, but is also well-known as a supplier of tender salad leaves to top restaurants in London and the South East. The farm sells 1.2 tons of salad leaves to the restaurant trade every week – so you know that whatever you're picking will have had to meet some pretty high standards.

Keep an eye on their website and social media for news of what's currently picking. The selection includes lots of berries and orchard fruits, along with a variety of favourite veg and even flowers later in the summer.