4 min read253 farms in 19 regions
How to pick strawberries
The first field of the year almost everywhere, and the one people most often pick underripe.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
February to October, depending on the region
Learn
Most people picktoo early
Almost none of this fruit ripens after it comes off the plant. Pick it green and that is how it stays, which is why a bad haul usually comes down to a few minutes of knowing what to look for.
4 min read297 farms in 19 regions
How to pick blueberries
The most forgiving fruit on this list, and the one where patience pays most.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
April to September, depending on the region
3 min read133 farms in 18 regions
How to pick raspberries
The most fragile thing you will pick, and the easiest to tell when it is ready.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
June to October, depending on the region
3 min read99 farms in 17 regions
How to pick blackberries
Black is when most people pick them, which is usually two or three days early.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
May to October, depending on the region
4 min read76 farms in 12 regions
How to pick sweet cherries
A three-week season in most places, and the pick that most rewards turning up on the right weekend.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
April to July, depending on the region
3 min read18 farms in 6 regions
How to pick tart cherries
Montmorency and its relatives, grown for pie rather than for eating out of hand. Worth a trip if you bake, and a short season even by cherry standards.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
May to July, depending on the region
4 min read137 farms in 17 regions
How to pick peaches
One of the few fruits here that genuinely improves after picking, which changes how you should choose them.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
May to September, depending on the region
3 min read29 farms in 10 regions
How to pick nectarines
A peach without the fuzz, and less forgiving because there is no fuzz to hide the damage.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
May to September, depending on the region
3 min read12 farms in 6 regions
How to pick apricots
The shortest season on this site and the fruit that most rewards going the week you hear about it.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
May to August, depending on the region
3 min read31 farms in 14 regions
How to pick plums
Wildly different between varieties, so the farm will tell you more than any general rule.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
June to September, depending on the region
5 min read324 farms in 19 regions
How to pick apples
The longest u-pick season in the country and the one with the most varieties, most of them ready on different weeks.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
June to November, depending on the region
4 min read45 farms in 15 regions
How to pick pears
The one fruit here you should pick before it is ripe, because a pear ripened on the tree is gritty at the core.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
August to November, depending on the region
3 min read12 farms in 7 regions
How to pick concord grapes
The smell of a Concord vineyard in September is the reason to go, whatever you end up doing with the fruit.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
August to October, depending on the region
3 min read8 farms in 2 regions
How to pick muscadines
A different animal from a Concord, and everything you know about picking bunch grapes works against you here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
August to October, depending on the region
3 min read8 farms in 5 regions
How to pick currants
Almost impossible to buy in America and not much easier to find growing, for a reason that has nothing to do with taste.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
June to August, depending on the region
3 min read3 farms in 3 regions
How to pick gooseberries
The thorniest thing you can pick in America, and the only fruit here worth picking twice in one season for two completely different reasons.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
June to August, depending on the region
3 min read5 farms in 3 regions
How to pick chestnuts
The only thing on this site you gather off the ground rather than pick off a plant, and the only one that fights back before you have touched it.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
September to December, depending on the region
4 min read228 farms in 19 regions
How to pick pumpkins
Half the reason American farms open to the public at all in October, and the one pick where what you do with it decides what you choose.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
September to November, depending on the region
3 min read6 farms in 6 regions
How to pick figs
Southern farms mostly, and worth going out of your way for, because a shop fig has never been picked ripe.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
June to October, depending on the region
Now go use it
The technique only helps if you turn up in the right week. See what is ready near you.
Find a farm