Berry Picking
 

This may sound a little odd, but my daughter and I are looking to take a trip somewhere this Spring to pick berries. She's five and we live in Hawaii so somewhere on the West Coast would be ideal. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are favorites! Any suggestions? Mahalo!

There are lots of U-pick berry farms around the Seattle area (and good flights here from Honolulu and Maui). Look under King County on this list:

http://www.pickyourown.org/WAnortheast.htm#listings

It's hard to find the time when all the berries are ripe at the same time, as strawberries are eearlier than the others, and blueberries a bit later. But some farms have everbearing strawberries. July is probably your best bet, but you can check the individual farm websites.

Much Mahalo, Enzian! Never been to WA, so I will check that out!

Hello Lubon66 :)

How about one of the premiere Strawberry Festivals in the U.S.?
Oxnard, California - May 17 & 18

Check this out:

http://www.strawberry-fest.org/

You must come to Oregon then! We have the Hoodie variety of strawberries that beats the heck out of all others, and also Marionberries that are amazing! There are loads of upick places all on the outskirts of Portland, as well as down into the valley towards Salem. We have the usual blueberries, raspberries, etc as well, but the Hoodies and Marionberries are unique to this area.

I'd have to agree that Oregon has great berries!

Check the pickyourown.org main site and click on Oregon. Sauvie Island just north of downtown Portland via Hwy 30 is one location, but there are many other locations to the west and east of Portland that are easy day trips. The PDX airport is very easy to fly into from HNL.

Also the pickyourown site has lots of good info on preserving and serving those delicious morsels.

Here is another good site with a location map for various farms, as well as a calendar of what fruits are available when.

http://tricountyfarm.com/index.asp

Having picked berries as a summer job as a kid I can claim to be something of an expert (ha ha)....the northwest berries are great but pick an experience where you have other things you can do too (such as a festival or neat area to visit) as berry picking grows old pretty quickly. I enjoyed raspberies best as I did not enjoy the "on your hands and knees" aspect of strawberries and blueberries were never very satisfying as it takes so many to fill a basket. Wild blackberries are my favorite to eat but least favorite to pick (spiders and thorns). Be sure to enjoy some local berry pie after all your hardwork!

marionberries, perhaps chocolate covered????

You wouldn't be coming to Austin anytime soon, would you, mms? ;) ((L))

POIson--I too picked berries as a kid, lol!

swisshiker--LOL! Those are the best, aren't they?! I think you need to take a trip up here and that way you can take a whole suitcase of them back:D

We are going to be in the Oxnard area during the strawberry festival. Is this worth going to?

we picked berries in Sequim Washington in July. Lots of fun - strawberries and Raspberries.

When I was 10, I spent a month at my aunt's farm in Maine. She had just purchased the field across the street and it was full of wild blueberries. I picked a bunch everyday that my aunt would put into muffins, pancakes and bread. I gained 10 pounds that month!

Last time we visited, my wife and I were picking on another part of the farm when my aunt came out to tell us that there was a bear picking them the day before!

I too used to pick berries in the summer in Oregon. When I picked for $$, I chose blueberries since I do not like them raw. When we would pick as a family, it was strawberries. My dad also had wild blackberries behind his house so that was fun too.

Not helpful to your question, Lubon, but I grew up in Kalamazoo, Mi. and some of my fondest memories are going to the country and picking raspberrys, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherrys, peaches, plums, apples, etc.
Good times!

One of my favorite treats was when mms gave us a Marionberry pie from a farm stand in Oregon.
My grandmother in NC used to get my cousin and I to pick blackberries and this is how I know about chiggers.
So for mms to give us that wonderful pie and not to have to have chigger bites !.. such a treat :D