Full of flavour, beautifully fragrant and beautiful in colour and form, British strawberries are the best. Our climate is ideally suited to growing soft fruits. Fruit from a local farm will have been picked when ripe and will taste of summer, whereas strawberries from abroad will have been picked early and travelled long distances, and as a result they won't taste as good.
Everyone loves strawberries, even kids who will avoid lots of other fruits and vegetables, and they're so good for them. Eight strawberries have as much vitamin C as an orange; pop a handful in a packed lunch for a sweet, nutritious snack. Strawberries are full of anti-oxidants, and as far back as Roman times they've been cultivated for their medicinal properties.
Strawberries might be good for you, but that doesn't mean you always have to serve them virtuously. Eton Mess is a summer dessert we often serve in The Treehouse, where the strawberries are served with crushed meringues and a vanilla cream. Of course they're also fantastic with champagne. For a great champagne cocktail, crush strawberries and sweeten with a little icing sugar, pass through a sieve and pour into the bottom of a flute before topping with champagne.
To keep yourself in strawberries all through the summer, have a go at growing your own. Our head gardener Derek Horton tells me you need an open, airy and sunny site and well-prepared soil, but after that it's easy. The programme of learning activity we have at The Garden is called Roots and Shoots, and it includes both gardening and food, demonstrating the relationships between growing, cooking and tasting. The team are growing lots of great fruit and vegetables during workshops and classes in the teaching garden, and I use some of the produce in demonstrations. Come along on Wednesday, August 1, I'll be creating summer salads and desserts.
Almost as good as the pleasure of collecting fruit you've grown yourself, is a trip to a local fruit farm. Take the family and have a day out in the fresh air. As a kid, I used to eat more straight from the bush than I took home! You will probably find a range of great-tasting varieties, many more than you will find in a supermarket.
If your only option is the supermarket, do still try to buy British even if they are a little more expensive. As well as all the benefits we know buying locally has, the difference in taste will make it worth it.
For an even better flavour, let strawberries come to room temperature before serving, or even put them outside in the sun for a couple of hours.
You can also serve strawberries with savoury flavours, they make a great salad served sliced and topped with black olives, fresh basil or mint and a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with a little sugar, salt and pepper. They're also lovely served with goats cheese and mixed leaves.
Of course there are lots of other fruits that you can grow yourself or buy locally. As part of the planting scheme in the Ornamental Garden, we have blackcurrants, redcurrants, whitecurrants, jostaberries, raspberries, gooseberries and blueberries. We encourage children to pick a few to eat as they go around The Garden.
Making the best of soft fruits at this time of year is a great way to appreciate what's seasonal in your local area, so get picking.

RECIPE 1: Strawberry smoothie
225g strawberries
3 scoops good quality vanilla ice cream
568ml milk
2 tsps caster sugar
Sliced strawberries and fresh mint to garnish
Simply place all the ingredients in a liquidiser and blitz. For a grown-up smoothie, add a splash of Alnwick Rum.

RECIPE 2: Strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake
Sweet pastry
225g strawberries, quartered
115g good quality white chocolate, melted
568ml double cream
115g caster sugar
225 g mascarpone cheese
3 whole eggs, 3 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod
Sliced strawberries and ice cream for serving
Line a flan ring with the sweet pastry, and bake blind.
Whisk the egg and sugar together, and then add the cream and the vanilla beans. Add the melted chocolate and then the strawberries, mixing it all together.
Pour the mixture into the pastry case, and bake in the oven at 120°C for 1.5hrs or until set. Cool for 3 – 4 hours, and then slice and serve with the strawberries and ice cream.

You can pick strawberries at:

West Moor, near Felton off the A1 towards Weldon Bridge
Brocbushes, Corbridge
East Town Farm, Milbourne near Ponteland
Oxford Farm, Ancroft, near Berwick