COUNTRY CAFE, RECTORY FARM, OXFORD Katherine MacAlister is in heaven as she drops by at an award-winning pick-your-own.

IT WAS Dolly Parton who said: “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

I’m not sure if they’d agree at the Country Cafe at Rectory Farm in Stanton St John, having been almost rained out of existence after two terrible summers.

But resilient and still smiling, Graham and Penny Corbett are defying the odds and doing a roaring trade, and, without wanting to tempt the gods, 2009 looks like it might be dry enough for them to stay in business.

By night Graham runs Oxford Dining, a wonderful catering company, but by day, he mans the Country Cafe, providing everything from tea and cake to children’s lunch boxes, sandwiches and salads.

And anyone who has been, will know what a wonderful place the Country Cafe is. Because not only is the food delicious (if limited), it’s cheap, child-friendly and next to the adventure playground and bouncy castle, which means you might even manage a conversation as well.

Rectory Farm was ranked top PYO farm in the UK by the National Farmers’ Retail and Markets Association last year, and is heaving with produce you can either pick yourself or buy in the shop, below right.

There’s a butchers there now too, and many locals use it as their main food supplier.

But whether you need a rest after all that strawberry picking or just fancy a cuppa, it’s a great place to meet when the sun’s shining.

So there we were one glorious Friday morning, children engulfed in acres of bouncy plastic and mums and dads preparing to have lunch.

To be more precise, I had the mozzarella and tomato salad, which sounds simple, but it was the freshness of the ingredients that spoke for themselves.

The lettuce and tomato were obviously picked that day, the lettuce actually tasting of something and having a marvellous crunch, while the tomatoes were still warm from the sun.

It makes you realise what a poor replica supermarket fruit and veg is compared with the real thing.

Some balsamic vinaigrette, a decent portion and I was a happy woman.

A few more condiments and I would have been delirious.

My friend had the bacon and avocado salad, again a big hit, while the kids opened their animal shaped lunch boxes – a bargain at £3.50 – which included ham, jam or cheese sandwiches, raisins, a yoghurt tube, Cheddars, a chocolate muffin and carton of juice.

And they ate it all, before scampering back to the sandpit.

We, of course, had to sample the cakes – one carrot, one Bakewell tart and two large coffee lattes – and ate happy in the knowledge that not only were the children in heaven but the parents were approaching it just by way of pastries.

Two adults and three kids came to £25, with ice cream. With punnets of the most enormous juicy strawberries under our arms we headed home.

A day out with calories for the whole family.

Next time it rains maybe the Corbetts should take comfort from another Dolly classic and keep on smilin’: “Storms make trees take deeper roots.”