We love fresh local produce but can’t always afford it. An economical and fun way to access our amazing bounty is by picking the fruits and vegetables yourself. We usually pick raspberries, blueberries and sometimes do peas and beets depending on our own garden’s output. Most farms are organic or do minimal spraying and it’s nice to really see where your food is coming from.
This way
To find a farm near you, use the Puget Sound Fresh guide. This informative booklet lists what’s in season, where farm stands are located and what guidelines need to be followed when doing U-Pick. Most farms take cash and pets are not allowed in the fields.
Wear sunscreen and a good hat. Even early in the morning you can still get burned.
Last Saturday my husband and I went to our favorite place to pick raspberries, Harvold Farms near Carnation. I am on their ripe and ready email list so got the message that Saturday was the first day they were open.
Ready to pick.
Especially for something prized like raspberries it’s important to get to the field early, otherwise by the time you arrive they could be shutting down harvesting for the day to let the produce ripen. The cost has gone up a bit, to $2.50 a pound but there was still a line when we arrived at 7. Soon the fields were open, we were led to our row and the first sweet bite of berry filled my mouth.
Guidelines for picking.
Half the fun is hearing voices speaking in languages from all over the world and the stories people tell each other to make the time pass quickly as they pick. “Yeah, I do it all myself” said one tired female voice from a few rows over “my husband is an engineer and a thinker but a hands on doer he is not”. Songs in Ukrainian drifted up from another row.
These wooden carriers hold cardboard boxes to put your berries in.
The sun rose above the clouds, the day grew warmer and our containers slowly filled. An hour and a half went by, we reached the end of our row and we each had two full boxes. We took them to be weighed then carefully slid them in the back of the car and made our way home.
So many berries!
Once home I made a huge amount of jam using the outdoor cooker I got last Christmas. This was really wonderful as the pots heated quickly and the house stayed cool. We all ate a ton of berries then froze the rest for smoothies and raspberry crisp.
Propane two burner cookers rule.
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