Going to pick-your-own farms is one of my favorite family activities.  We always make a point of going apple-picking in the fall and visiting a pumpkin patch just before Halloween, but this year I also wanted to do some berry picking.  I used to pick strawberries and blueberries with my grandparents, and I think it’s such a fun family summer activity.  This year, Peanut was big enough that I felt she would actually enjoy it, and a new summer tradition is born.

We went to Awald Farms in North Collins, NY.  I did some research before choosing a place and was impressed with Awald’s website and with their selection of U-pick options.  We’d missed strawberry season, sadly, but Awald currently has available blueberries and multiple varieties of raspberries.  They also have a farm store and a nursery.  I didn’t get any pictures of the nursery, but it was huge and the plants looked beautiful – I think I may be coming here to stock my garden next spring.  But that’s beside the point.  Basically, I was really, really impressed with Awald’s operation and we will definitely be back.

My fellow pickers: Peanut, Nana, and Nugget.  (Well, Nugget didn’t pick – he was actually kind of a liability, albeit an adorable one.)  No Daddy, sadly – he was out of town attending to some family business.  But we had such a great time that I think we’ll try to go again before the end of the season, so that he can get in on the fun too.

We brought Peanut’s little sand pail and they weighed it so that she could have the fun of using her own bucket – so nice and accommodating!  Peanut was all business.

She didn’t quite understand that the green berries weren’t ripe yet, and we spent a lot of time trying to dissuade her from chowing down on unripe fruit.  But she had a ball picking and she actually did quite well with putting most of the berries in her bucket and not in her mouth.

Of course, a good number of berries found their way into her tummy before the morning was over.  Prior to entering the fields, I asked one of the employees what the policy is on eating directly from the bush.  I explained that while I would do my best to control my child, she is a toddler, and I expected that she would be trying to eat berries from the bushes, and I asked if they had a way for me to pay for what she ate from the bush.  The friendly employees assured me that it was okay if Peanut ate some blueberries, that everyone did it, and that they didn’t expect me to prevent a two-year-old from eating in the field.  Big sigh of relief.

Nugget didn’t love blueberry picking.  He insisted on being walked up and down the rows until he fell asleep (eventually).  Nana took one for the team and did most of the Nugget-wrangling so I could enjoy picking with Peanut.  Wasn’t that nice of her?

After we had filled our buckets, we sat down in the grass and enjoyed a few more bites of blueberries before it was time to head home for lunch and nap.

Some of us were more exhausted than others…

But a good time was had by all.

What a fun way to spend a morning!  I kept on shouting things like “This is so much fun!” and “Oh, I LOVE this!”  I knew I was a broken record, but I just couldn’t help myself – it was such a wonderful morning.  I think blueberry picking is going to become one of our must-do summer activities (and hopefully strawberry picking, too, and raspberry picking when the kids are a bit older – they’re still too small to negotiate the brambles).  I mean, seriously, is there a better way to spend a sun-drenched summer morning than surrounded by sweet, beautiful berries?

No, there isn’t.

Do you enjoy berry picking, too?  Did you make it out for strawberry season, or did you miss it like we did?