All guides
How to pick blackberries
3 min read
Black is when most people pick them, which is usually two or three days early.
99
farms
17
regions
May to October
picked
When you can pick blackberries
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Across every region on Pickeria. Darker months are peak somewhere; your own region is narrower, and the table below gives it.
What to look for
- 1
Dull black, not shiny black. A glossy berry is still tart, and the shine dulls as the sugars finish
- 2
It should detach with barely any pull. A blackberry that resists is not ready, whatever colour it is
- 3
Unlike a raspberry, the core stays in, so a solid centre is normal rather than a sign you picked it early
- 4
Wear long sleeves on thorned rows and check the underside of the canes, where the biggest fruit sits out of the sun
- 5
Berries that have gone soft and dark red are overripe, not underripe. Leave them
What people get wrong
Every one of these is common enough to be worth naming.
- Picking shiny. A glossy blackberry is two or three days early and will be sharp, and this is the single most common mistake on this fruit
- Expecting the core to stay behind the way a raspberry's does. A solid centre is correct here
- Reaching over the top of a thorned cane rather than approaching from underneath
- Leaving the soft dark red ones because they look overripe. Those are the sweetest, they just will not survive the drive
Varieties worth knowing
Farms post the variety at the gate. This is what the names mean.
Thornless semi-erect
Chester, Triple Crown and friends. What most farms plant now, and the reason you no longer need long sleeves everywhere.
Marionberry
An Oregon cultivar and, to most people who have eaten one, the best blackberry there is. Worth driving for and grown almost nowhere else.
Boysenberry
A blackberry crossed with raspberry and loganberry. Soft, dark red, intensely aromatic, and too fragile to ship, so u-pick is the only way to eat one.
Olallieberry
Another Oregon cross, now mostly a California coastal crop. Long, glossy and worth asking about by name.
Once you are home
Most people pick more than they planned to.
- Tray-freeze then bag, and they hold their shape better than any other soft berry
- Blackberry and apple is the classic pairing for a reason, and September gives you both at once
- Sieve out the seeds for a coulis or a jelly if you find them tiresome, which many people do
- A cordial made with the overripe ones keeps for months and is better than anything sold as one
Where you can pick blackberries
99 farms across 17 regions, earliest season first. Every date came from the farm's own words.
Published prices
$3.00 to $10.00 per pound
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May to August
Mercier Orchards, Jaemor Farms, Oakhurst Farm and 10 more
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June to July
Live Earth Farm, Gizdich Ranch, Tru2earth Farm and 6 more
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June to October
Charlotte, NC5 farms
Lineberger's Maple Springs Farm, Bush-N-Vine Farm, Bumble Berry Farms and 2 more
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June to July
Sacramento, CA4 farms
Impossible Acres, 24 Carrot Farm, Amber Oaks Berry Farm and 1 more
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June to September
Washington, DC17 farms
Marker-Miller Orchards, Great Country Farms, Baugher's Orchards and Farms and 14 more
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July to September
Philadelphia, PA11 farms
Weaver's Orchard, Kauffman Orchards, Solebury Orchards and 8 more
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July to September
New York, NY10 farms
Greig Farm, Von Thun's Country Farm Market, Ochs Orchard and 7 more
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July to September
Hoffman Farms Store, Boones Ferry Berry Farms, Blooming Junction and 4 more
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July to September
Boston, MA6 farms
Cider Hill Farm, Tougas Family Farm, Douglas Orchard & Farm and 3 more
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July to October
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July to August
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July to September
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July to August
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July to August
Seattle, WA4 farms
Bryant Blueberry Farm, Terra Valley Farms, Raising Cane Ranch and 1 more
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August to September
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August to September
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August to September
Farms that publish a price
Taken from the farm's own website, never from a directory. Most publish nothing at all, so these are worth knowing.
