Pick Your Own Adventures
Pick Your Own Adventures
Why Pick Your Own? You may have heard about PYO which stands for pick your own fruits and vegetables. The pick-your-own movement is said to have developed during the Great Depression when innovative farmers sought to connect consumers directly with their products to reduce overhead for labor. Still, a popular activity today, getting outside in… Read More »
Why Pick Your Own?
You may have heard about PYO which stands for pick your own fruits and vegetables. The pick-your-own movement is said to have developed during the Great Depression when innovative farmers sought to connect consumers directly with their products to reduce overhead for labor. Still, a popular activity today, getting outside in the sunshine to pick your own food provides many benefits. Besides connecting with your food and farmer, you experience time in nature enjoying the sunshine, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators in the fields. Interacting with nature may improve one’s mood, while helping you feel more relaxed, in touch with your local community, and in harmony with the seasons.
Pick Your Own Season typically occurs May through November on our farm in Chester, N.J. Crops are weather dependent, so our seasons may shift occasionally. Our first PYO crop is always strawberries and we have several varieties ensuring that our strawberry season lasts for several weeks. The picking season will extend through the year to November with the last crops for picking being apples, pumpkins, and winter squashes. In between are wonderful months to pick a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
Picking your own food and flowers is a true adventure and an opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at a real working farm. You can get up close and personal to learn how food is grown while connecting with your local farmer. Supporting local agriculture is also good for the environment as it enhances sustainability, and promotes seasonality which is all good for the planet. Sourcing locally grown food rather than the food having to travel miles to your dinner table reduces your carbon footprint. Consuming locally grown fruits and vegetables tastes better and is healthier as the produce ripens naturally in the fields and is eaten fresh, retaining more of its nutritional value. Supporting local food helps protect natural resources by preserving open space ensuring the rural character of a region.
The PYO activity also includes a tractor-drawn wagon ride allowing you time to soak up all the beautiful scenery for an
unforgettable experience and the perfect photo op. There is nothing like the view from the cross (the highest point on our farm) overlooking the peach and apple orchards to the hill of Christmas trees in the distance. Speaking of Christmas trees, the Christmas Tree barn overlooking the historic Jared Haines house and scenic farmland presents another beautiful vista as does the view from our sunflower or corn maze (in season). Looking at the sea of giant, yellow sunflowers from above provides a vantage point that is simply breathtaking and a must-see for your summer bucket list. (PYO sunflowers are typically available in July).
Choosing your produce is exciting and the fun continues back home when you relive your joy by cooking or baking the food you picked with your family or friends. Creating something special from the food you picked seems to taste better and is more rewarding. Picked a bunch of raspberries and don’t know what to do with them? You can savor the wealth of recipe inspirations and storage and preserving tips on our website curated by Miss Jenn, our culinary and educational specialist.
What Can I Pick Today?
A common question on our farm from our guests is “What can I pick today”? We have created a special page on our website to help you stay in touch with the seasons, you can visit this page on our website for more details and to plan your visit. https://www.alstedefarms.com/can-pick-today/
Summertime is a wonderful time to enjoy picking your own as new crops become available with the changing season. Right now you can find tart cherries, and peas (snap, English shelling, and snow) in our picking fields along with red currants, gooseberries, red raspberries, and blueberries. More produce is growing as we speak and will be available when ripened later this month and next month into November, weather permitting. July typically holds pick-your-own flowers (sunflowers, zinnia, and cosmos) along with blueberries, green beans, and red raspberries. August season you can typically find squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers for picking. It’s always best to verify availability on our website before you visit. Follow us on social media for crop updates and video glimpses of daily farmer life.
