Late July and August is the perfect time to get your family together to enjoy barbeques, beaches … and berries! Because of our cold and wet spring, scrumptious raspberries and blueberries are just now coming into season at Puget Sound-area farms.
Round up your children for an afternoon out at a U-pick farm, taking in the sunshine and harvesting your own healthy fruit. Several farms will be opening up for U-pick blueberries at the end of July or beginning of August. After you’ve taken in the farm, let the kids help prepare a special dessert to get the full effect of their work.
Visiting a U-pick farm not only supports local farmers but offers an educational and fun outing for the family. Here are some farms that offer U-pick blueberries this summer:
- Canter-Berry Farms in Auburn
- Mercer Slough and Larsen Lake Blueberry Farms in Bellevue
- Blue Dog Farm in Carnation
- Remlinger Farm in Carnation
- Cottage Gardens Blueberry Farm in Duvall
- Forest Creek Farm in Enumclaw
- Bybee Farms in North Bend
- Linbo Blueberry Farm in Puyallup
- Foxberry Farm in Tacoma
- Anderson Blueberry Farm in Bow
- Schuh Farms in Mount Vernon
- Bryant Blueberry Farm in Arlington
- Whitehorse Meadows Farm in Arlington
- Bolles Organic Farm in Monroe
- Broers Farms in Monroe
- Blueberry Blossom Farm in Snohomish
- Mountainview Blueberry Farm in Snohomish
- Bjornstad Farms in Lynden
Although most farms only allow people to pick berries, there are a few that offer a variety of vegetables for U-pick. Garden Treasures Nursery & Organic Farm in Arlington offers a six-acre U-pick garden with over 100 varieties of crops. Bailey Vegetables in Snohomish and Foxberry Farm in Tacoma are two more places to pick your own summer produce.
Puget Sound Fresh, a “buy local” website that supports our region’s producers, offers easy-to-navigate tools to find local farms that sell certain produce, a month-by-month list of what is in season and tantalizing recipes from local chefs and farms. Harvest times may vary due to weather conditions, so be sure to call the farms ahead of time to verify availability.
