What’s Available for Pick Your Own Right Now?
With the pick your own just starting for the 2024 season, I thought I’d go over some of the crops you can expect in the next month. The first crop is Strawberries, which started about 3 weeks ago and will be ending at the beginning of June. The harvest was early this season due to the warmer April and May temperatures. Currently we have over 7 acres of strawberry patches with 126,000 plants in total throughout those patches. We usually replant every 3 years to ensure the berries are a nice size.
Next up for pick your own is cherries. On our farm we have 3 kinds- Sweet, Rainier, and Tart. Sweet cherries are starting on May 31st, 2024 with Rainier Cherries starting shortly after, followed by Tart Cherries. We have about 8 different varieties of sweet cherries that all ripen at different times, which in turn makes for a longer season. Sweet cherries are best for eating fresh. They are similar to what you would find at the grocery store, expect better! The Rainier Cherries are yellow with a pink hue to them. They are considered a sweet cherry but have a different flavor than a regular cherry. Tart cherries are what you want to use if you’re making a pie. They are the last of the cherries to ripen in our patch. Tart cherries are usually soft when ripe, and it’s best to use them within 2 days of picking.
Next up is Blueberries. I swear it feels like I blinked and everything is turning ripe at the same time this year. Cherries and Strawberries will overlap for pick your own, and so will Cherries and Blueberries this year. Overlap is good for the customer as you only have to pay admission for pick your own once a day, and it covers all crops you pick. Blueberries are usually replanted every 15 -20 years. Our Blueberry bushes are 12 years old this year so they are healthy and established, which makes some of the blueberries the size of quarters. If you’re looking for some recipe ideas, check out our Pinterest Page here. Stay tuned for another blog about Blackberries and Grapes when they are ready to pick.