Pickin' Time

Entrance at Wegmeyer Farms

My family and I spent yesterday afternoon at the strawberry patch!  The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time.  Even my seven year old, who started out not wanting to go, picked some berries and had fun (though I know he will never admit it!).  We went late in the afternoon, which is not the ideal time to pick.  It is best to get there early in the morning, when it is still cool and before all the crowds.  The farmer told us that yesterday was one of the busiest days they had so far for the season and took a few minutes to show my kids how to search way down at the bottom of the plants for berries and to only pick the berries that are entirely red.  The berries that still were white on the bottom were not ready.  My kids really followed these "rules" and did a great job picking!  It was nice to hear the little conversations they had with each other, especially the twins, discussing if the berry was ready or not.  In Virginia, May is when the strawberries come in.  Most of our local farms are running a few weeks ahead of schedule, due to all of the warm weather we have been having and our mild winter.

Our Strawberries!

In Loudoun County, our favorite farms to go to are:

Wegmeyer Farms, Hamilton, VA - this is our favorite spot to pick Strawberries!  They have recently added on other types of berries and pumpkins.

Crooked Run Orchard, Purcellville, VA - this our favorite spot for apples, peaches and pears!

Great Country Farm, Bluemont, VA - this is a great spot to go picking!  They have different items available each month and have an excellent calendar posted on their website.  The farm also offers live music on weekend and different seasonal festivals throughout the year.  They do charge an admission fee, but also have a large playground, live animals, miniature golf and a cow train.

This coming weekend is the Loudoun County Spring Farm Tour.  It is a great way to see all the different items that are grown locally and a wonderful time to see working farms that might not be open to the public.  If you go, bring a cooler!  Many of the farms will sell fresh eggs, cheese, butter and organic beef/chicken. 

The next few days we are going to have rain.  The kids and I are planning on finding some recipes and putting our freshly picked strawberries to use!  If you have any tried and true strawberry recipes please feel free to share & post in the comments section below!  We are going to attempt to make jam and maybe some sort of cookie bar.  My kids love seeing where their food comes from and being involved in the preparation and cooking process when we are at home!

Have a great day!