"u-pick" news and stories

When cherry season arrives, I go a little crazy. I have been known to eat a pound or two and call it a meal. I just got an email last night from one of my favorite u-pick farmers in New Jersey saying that their cherries are ripe and the blueberries are coming in.

This image from Mike (who lives in my hometown of Portland, OR. Woo hoo!). It makes me hungry just looking at it and now I think I have to find some time this weekend to go get myself some cherries. Thanks Mike, for adding your picture to the Slashfood Flickr pool.

Source

With the weather starting to warm up (especially down here in Florida), I thought that some help finding u-pick farms would be useful. I've always relied on PickYourOwn.org. They have extensive county-by-county listings for u-pick farms (as well as some other orchards) throughout the U.S. There are also listings for Canada, Australia, the U.K., New Zealand and South Africa. Aside from farms, the site also has listings for regional festivals, mostly those related to fruits and vegetables. Contacting state agriculture departments is another good way to find local u-pick farms. Many ag departments will even have listings on their websites.

[Photo: Sharp Ranch]