I’m obsessed with U-pick farms.
Especially when
it comes to pumpkins. I’ve only actually chopped the pumpkin off
the vine once up in North Georgia, but it was enough to get me
hooked on gathering my own produce the “old fashioned way”.
Since then I’ve found great places (both local and
not so local) to pick apples, citrus fruits, pumpkins and, most
recently, blueberries.
Up in Northwest
Tampa lies a small little farm known as BlueYouth Berries. I happened
to stumble across their Facebook page one day, then
decided on a whim to head out there one Saturday last
year.
I. Was. Hooked.
And although we went late in the season, the
berries were still plump and a-plenty; perfect for our
first romp out in the fields.
I was totally
surprised to find out that blueberries grew on tall
bushes! For some reason I had envisioned low to
the ground, strawberry-like shrubs.
I was shocked
when I saw that very little bending was involved at all! Some of
the bushes were up to my shoulders in height, which completely made
the experience that much more enjoyable.
So why am I
blogging about this NOW?
Well, BlueYouth opens for the
2012 season THIS Saturday!
And guess what. Yup. I’ll be
there. With bells on.
Want to join us? We’ll be up there
by 8:45am, so google the address from the link above, then message
me here on the blog and I’ll be on the lookout for you!
PS- Children and
strollers ARE welcome (and even get their own little
bucket), but pets are not. Bring sunscreen, sunglasses and good
shoes. There’s some uneven areas of the farm, and some spots with
soft dirt/sand. Bring cash (berries are $6/lb) and clean out your
trunk in case you’d like to buy a blueberry plant to take home!
See you there!
Steph
