How to Pick Your Own
Blueberries
at Plow Creek Farm
in Tiskilwa, Illinois
Picking your own blueberries has its benefits, but also
its
responsibilities.
You have fun and the pleasure of getting your own food. You can be
outside with family or friends. It is educational for those who have
not picked their own berries before. You do the quality control, making
sure the blueberries are not dried out or underripe. And picking your
own blueberries costs lots less.
We have done a lot of work planting, watering, mulching, weeding,
pruning, and otherwise taking care of the blueberry plants. It is your
responsibility to treat them well. Be especially careful of baby
blueberry plants that have recently been planted in the gaps between
the big plants.
How to pick Blueberries
We will give you a picking bucket, such as a gallon ice cream
bucket. It will probably have a short rope loop on it to hang on
your neck or shoulder. But it is really more comfortable when the
bucket of blueberries starts getting heavier to hang the bucket on a
belt. We often have some extra belts to lend. Some also tie it to
a belt loop.
Usually we will show you where to start picking, usually at a flag,
like with our
strawberries.
Blueberries are ripe when they are all dark blue. The portion
around the stem turns color last; if it is red, yellow, or green, the
berry is not quite ripe. Expect to make some mistakes and get
some less than fully ripe berries; that's ok. They berries that
are not quite ripe are more tart, and mixed together with the ripe
berries gives a good flavor.
Usually it is most efficient to cup your hand under the blueberries and
fill your hand before putting the berries in your bucket. It is
fun when a whole big cluster is fully ripe, but check for green berries
before grabbing a whole cluster at once.
Some bushes are better than others, but we ask if you start picking on
a bush you do a fairly thorough job of picking all the blueberries that
are
ready.
Blueberries like to hide. Look in the middle of the bush and down
low.
Sometimes blueberry picking is hot work. Some like a broad brimmed
hat. Please drink plenty of water; we don't want to have to call an
ambulance for you. We have water available at our stand. Coming early
avoids some of the heat. We usually have a few chairs to rest on in the
shade of our tent.
Please be very careful if you cross through a
row. It is easy to break small branches. And remember those
baby blueberry plants in the gaps.
Except during our self-serve picking times later in the season, we will
have our friendly staff available to help you. Feel free to ask for
help or ask any question.
Blueberries are sold by weight. We will weigh them for you and
calculate what you owe. We accept cash or checks. (Sorry, no credit
cards.) It would be great if you brought your own container to bring your
blueberries home in, but we have a limited number of flats that you can use,
unless we run out.
See also
Blueberry Overview,
Blueberry Pictures
and
Blueberry News
Other Pick Your Own crops include:
Strawberries,
Blackberries and
Raspberries.
For schedule and availability of strawberries and other crops, visit
our
Crop Calendar or
Farm
Headlines page, which is updated daily during harvest season.
