by Katy Killilea
PYO (pick you own) farms grant us the opportunity to hunt and choose and pick and amass baskets of lovely fresh food. Kids are great pickers. To some extent, the younger a child is, the better she’ll be: with a lower point of view, ripe gems other pickers miss are easier to spot. This is a fun way–for anyone with a sun hat and comfortable shoes–to spend a hunk of a summer day. This year at my local farm, PYO strawberry season came and went in a blur. But there are plenty more opportunities coming along to harvest an abundance, eat fistfuls of goodness and then make pie, jam, pickles, sauces…
If there’s a particular crop you want a heap of, plan ahead. Maybe even scribble a note on your calendar when your crop of choice is likely to be ready to pick. And although farmers can’t predict exactly when a crop will be ready, if your heart’s set on a bounty of a particular berry or vegetable, it’s worthwhile to become a bit of a farm stalker. Ask your farmer, and ask again. The timeline for some Rhode Island favorites goes like this:
STRAWBERRIES: part or all of June
PEAS: June and July
RASPBERRIES: mid June through mid July
BLACKBERRIES: mid July through mid August
WATERMELONS: mid July through August
BLUEBERRIES: mid July through mid September
TOMATOES: July through early fall
PEACHES: mid July through early fall
PEARS: August through fall
APPLES: August through November
My favorite farms are Four Town Farm in Seekonk, because where else can you go from being in Target to being in a field of berries in under five minutes? And Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown, because where else can you get Callebaut chocolate ice cream as a rejuvenating snack after your labors? In the fall, I love apple picking at Dame Farm in Johnston, for the beautiful apples, of course. And also for the cool mother-daughter duo running the place, and for the gigantic chocolate-caramel drizzle apples (you might recall this as an apple dessert first popularized during Rosie O’Donnell’s heyday, and some people might think they are passe for 2009, but they are, in fact, still awesome) which they make, wrap festively, and sell.
For a complete timeline for the harvest of every local crop you can name, look here. Farm Fresh Rhode Island also offers a comprehensive list of farms offering PYO by crop. Remember that farms offer PYO for a limited part of the harvest, when a crop is at its most abundant. What are you and your kids picking this year? Share your favorites with us. And happy picking!
Looks like a great place to visit., I would love to take my 4 year old son, but I need directions
Hi, new in RI and would like to know more about this farms. Can anyone help me? I have 2 daughters, 11 and 9, and they really would like to visit one. Thanks!!!
4TFarm told me they’ll try to have PYO through this holiday weekend!
We went to Four Town Farm yesterday to pick strawberries, they were open for picking 9-5. Strawberries are ripe and delicious!
Katy, I am dying to try some of these places, perhaps for raspberry or blueberry season (we are berry hounds and go nearly every week all summer). Maybe we can have a berry picking and ice cream date in July?
we picked today. the farmers were very sad, saying, “the fields are very sparse” and “be careful what you pick, a lot of them are moldy on the bottom from all the rain.”
hence, strawberries & dumplings, a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, and two strawberry-rhubarb crumbles (smitten kitchen, thank you!) were made immediately with our luscious but threatening to get moldy fruits.
actually, when we were there yesterday, she said they would go day by day… so call ahead, cross your fingers and go for it. We picked 22 lbs in less than 40 minutes yesterday, they were huge, and oh so fabulous!
today (Saturday the 20th) is the final day of PYO at Four Town Farm for the 2009 strawberry season.