You-Pick Farm

Some of the You-Pick pepper rows

Our little family has developed something of a tradition in the few years that we have lived here. Every year at the beginning of summer, we load into the car and head to the you-pick farm. I had never heard of a you-pick farm before moving to this area! I realize now that they are pretty common and that most areas probably have at least one within a reasonable driving distance. Ours is about 45 minutes away. That seems a long distance to drive but with the amount of produce we pick we would have to drive back and forth to the nearest grocery store many times. It also cuts out on all of the gas that would be used to transport the food to a sorting facility, warehouse, and then to the store. It also saves money because you cut out all of the middle men. Nobody has to pick it for you, sort it, transport it, stock it, and sell it. You also don't have to pay for all of the produce damaged and destroyed during that process, or the hiked up price the retailers have to charge to make a buck. Best of all, it is a wonderful day spent out of doors with family. My son really gets into it and enjoys finding the biggest, most perfect, or largest amounts of whatever we happen to be picking at the moment. Family time happens too seldom and this is a perfect chance to start a tradition!

People enjoying the sunflowers and peppers

One of the two buckets we picked of onions

We always have an ever expanding garden, but I am always getting it started late so I have nothing producing right now. That just makes me yearn for fresh seasonal produce all the more! No need to wait and I don't even have to settle for tasteless grocery store produce.Those that don't have the time or space to have their own garden can benefit from these farms even more! You-pick farms grow all of the food and then you simply go and pick it. You get the freshest produce available, since you are the one that actually plucks it from the vine. You can also choose exactly what you want. Do you prefer the little tiny potatoes or the giant baking potatoes? Would you rather have ripe red tomatoes, the less ripe ones that will keep longer and ripen in a window sill, or perhaps green ones to fry? How about some of all of them to use for every occasion? No problem. Ours charges per 5 gallon bucket. Anything you can fit in the bucket you get for that price. This year it was $10 a bucket, which seems steep, until you really think about it. Bell Peppers at the grocery store generally cost about $1 each. You can fit FAR more than 10 bell peppers in a 5 gallon bucket. Tomatoes are usually priced per pound. I can tell you for sure that there was more than 10lbs of tomatoes in that bucket! My shoulder is still reminding me of that! My favorite is the onions. We use lots of onions! 

The tomato field. Tomatoes as far as the eye can see. I
imagine this is what part of Italy looks like LOL

The facility also picks some veggies and has them at the front to buy. Things that aren't producing as much at that time, come from more delicate plants, or aren't as easy to pick are usually kept that the front, along with some of everything on site for the people that aren't able to, or don't want to, pick their own. I was so proud of Keegan. He was really into finding ripe tomatoes in the sea of green ones. When an elderly couple came and was not able to find any ripe ones, he found the beautiful red tomatoes for them. When he had filled their buckets and we were turning to go the man asked Keegan how he owed him. Keegan declined and instead gratefully took a cold bottle of water that they offered him. Something more wonderful than even a sea of beautiful veggies: priceless moments like that and the pride a mother feels when she sees the kind and responsible young man her son is growing to be. 

Big beautiful tomatoes fresh off the vine!

Our haul :)

We headed home in a wonderful mood and with a backseat FULL of bags of veggies! I couldn't wait to start putting these treasures away when we got home. Brad and I took turns dicing bell peppers. We use them in just about everything so we go through a lot and it is nice to have a stock of them already diced on hand. We ended up filling three gallon sized freezer bags with peppers for the freezer, and then I dehydrated two gallons. They take up so much less space when dehydrated! What would fit in a gallon sized bag before the process, will fit in a snack sized bag afterward. Then when added to water will rehydrate! We had just about finished our stock of dehydrated peppers from last year so it was perfect timing! I also dehydrated a couple of red onions I diced. We haven't even started putting the many types of hot peppers we picked away yet. While Brad was taking his turn dicing I was blanching and skinning tomatoes and dicing onions to make spaghetti sauce. I used all of the ripest tomatoes in the sauce so that the others would keep for a few days. We had some tonight over spaghetti squash that we also got from the you-pick. It was worth the effort! The onions will keep for months after setting in the sun to dry for a day or two. The yellow onions will keep the best that way as long as they are in a cool, dark, dry place. I usually hang them in a cloth bag so they get good air circulation. The red and white onions won't keep as long and will be used first or will be dehydrated or frozen before they turn. What I am looking forward the most is the sweet golden corn on the cob. It is amazing grilled. All you have to do is throw the whole ear on hot coals, sheath and all. Turn a few times and viola! The sugars caramelize, and the sheath steams it. Just peel and eat!   

$10 worth of fresh tomatoes nestled around my incubator.
Yeah... I think that is worth $10! 

You-pick farms are a wonderful idea! You can find everything from blueberry you-picks to cutting flower you-picks, to you-picks that carry everything imaginable! It is such a wonderful way to eat locally and seasonally. It is also wonderful to be able to see where your food is coming from. An important thing to remember, however, is that just because you pick it and it is local doesn't mean it is organic and pesticide free. You should still be careful and wash everything before you eat it. An amazing thing, though, is that you can actually talk to the farmer and find out what, if anything, is used on the crops. Who would know better than the person that grew it? I can't believe that I never knew of you-pick farms before! I look forward to going all year now. I hope that more people will look into their local farms and see if there is a you-pick near you! Some great websites to check are pickyourown.org and localharvest.org. Also keep an eye in the newspaper or ask around at the local farmers market! Happy Picking!