U-Pick Archives - chowtimes.com

U-Pick Strawberries at W&A Farm, Richmond

Post author:Suanne
Post published:June 10, 2016
Post category:U-Pick
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The praise dance group from the RCEFC went to pick strawberries after the praise dance session on a Thursday morning. Thanks to Angel for organizing this field trip.

June is the strawberries season but according to the farmer, this year’s season arrives early. We went to pick the strawberries in early June and was told that it’s almost end of the u-pick season.

We went to the W&A Farm on the corner of No.8 Road and Westminster Hwy for the u-pick.

I had not picked strawberries for a few years and I noticed that the price had gone up. It’s $2.50 a pound now. (more…)

U-Pick Strawberries at Bob Featherstone Farm on No. 4 Road, South of Steveston Hwy

Post author:Suanne
Post published:July 3, 2012
Post category:U-Pick
Post comments:5 Comments

Due to the cooler and wet weather this Spring, the strawberries season is delayed this year. The usual season for u pick is middle June but this year, it only starts end of June.

We brought our visiting friend and family to the Bob Featherstone Farm on No. 4 Road, South of Steveston Hwy to pick some strawberries. This time, the u-pick strawberry farm is located further south than the one we went in earlier years. You can check out our earlier post for other u-pick farms and recipes using strawberries.

The first thing I noticed was the price for u-pick had gone way up. It used to be $1 per pound. (more…)

U-Pick Apples at Apple Barn

Post author:Ben
Post published:September 17, 2007
Post category:U-Pick
Post comments:8 Comments

Updated 16 Sep 2009: For those interested in u-pick apple in Richmond BC, Cherry Lane Fruit Farm is the only place I know that offers u-pick apple. Cherry lane is located at 2511 No.4 Road (enter off Beckwith Rd. behind Costco). Cherry Lane Fruit Farm contact number is 778-833-3379.

It is more important to blog about apples now because this topic is time sensitive, you see. So, I am taking a one day intermission from the Atlanta series to blog about the apple season starting about this time of the year.

We know of a U-Pick in Abbotsford called Apple Barn. They have a website at http://applebarn.ca. The apple picking seasons started on Saturday last week and will last until mid to late October. If you had not experience picking your own apples before, you should plan to make your way there. It is great fun.

When we were there last weekend, only the Gala apples were opened for picking. Most of the other varieties will be available for picking starting next weekend. This was OK since my favourite apple is Gala anyway.

Since this was the first week and only Gala was available, there were not many people during this weekend. I think it would get a lot more busier starting next week. A few close family friends of ours went there early (the orchard opens at 10AM last weekend) and had practically the entire orchard to ourselves.

For the Gala apples, it costs $6 for 10lb. They don’t weigh what you pick. As long as you could fit all the apples in the 10lb bag, and that the handles touches, it’ll be $6. They also have 20lb bags which costs $10 but that was way too much for our small family. Next week, when they open to more varieties, it will costs a bit more. Check their website for their pricing. I figured that u-pick apples is about half the cost of what you pay for in the supermarkets.

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Blackberry Shrubs

Post author:Ben
Post published:August 29, 2006
Post category:U-Pick
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There is a bumper crop of blackberries this year in Vancouver. This has been brought about by lots of rain in June followed by hot, dry weather after, creating ideal condition.

Blackberry shrubs are found all over the lower mainland — roadsides, fence lines, stream banks, railway tracks — and they grow just about anywhere.

I bike to work on most days in summer. Along the bike route there are also a lot of blackberry shrubs. These shrubs I find along the route are largely untouched because unless you are on the route you will not know they are there.

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U-Pick Blueberries

Post author:Ben
Post published:August 25, 2006
Post category:U-Pick
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Updated on 29th July 2012

Click here for a list of organic blueberry farms in BC.

Updated on 8 August 2009

This year’s blueberries price is right for comsuners as supply outstrips demand. The following are blueberry farm sales extracted from the Richmond Review and other source:

Farm	Address	Phone	Notes
Bakshi BlueberryFarm	9431 No. 6 Rd.	604-275-9163	gate sales and U-Pick
Blueberry Lane	7000 No. 5 Rd.	604-273-6871	gate sales
Fishers Blueberry Farm	9311 No. 6 Rd.	604-916-6401	gate sales
DFG Organic Blueberries	11071 Blundell Rd.	604-273-5829	Open weekends for U-Pick only
No. 5 Blueberry Farm	7040 No. 5 Rd	604-303-8733	gate sales and U-Pick
KNN Blueberry Farms	11590 Granville Ave.	604-781-9993	gate sales and U-Pick
Birak Berry Farms	6311 No. 5 Rd., 3600 No. 6 Rd., 9111 No. 6 Rd.	604-328-9269	gate sales and U-Pick
Birak Berry Farms	No. 4 Rd & Francis		gate sales and U-Pick
Canwest Farms Ltd	Blundell and Sidaway (look for red barn)	604-244-0488	gate sales
Sandhu’s Farm (Cal-San Berries)	12791 Blundell Rd.	604-715-6644	gate sales
Driediger Farms	7361 240 Street, Langley	604-888-1685	U-Pick

Polly invited us to the U-Pick Blueberries last weekend. We have never been to pick blueberries before and never knew where the U-Picks were; even though there are a lot of blueberry farms all over Richmond.

Polly found one on 11071 Blundell Rd. Coincidentally the owner of the farm were from Malaysia too. We found it spooky when another customer in the farm on that day were also from Malaysia. You can always spot a Malaysian accent with their unique version of English — I call it Manglish!

This farm does not sell blueberries at all because he apparently had a lot of orders. He told us that he had already orders for batches of 50lbs or 100lbs that he can hardly fulfill!

Blueberries are native to North America and Eastern Asia. They grow on shrubs as high as 8 ft tall. The blueberry season typically runs from May to October every year.

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Kelowna Trip Report: Picking Cherries

Post author:Ben
Post published:July 20, 2006
Post category:Kelowna 2006 U-Pick
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The highlight of our trip to Kelowna is picking cherries. On the first day we were there we went to a cherry farm on Westbank. We had been to this farm before but were pleasantly surprised at the abundance newly ripe cherries on the trees.

Picking cherries is simple. You need to pick it with the stems on. This will keep the cherries fresh longer. The man in charge of the farm showed us how best to pick cherries — basically, you push the stem up and snap off the stem.

The cherries in the Westbank farm is free of pesticides but is a bit small compared to larger ones we see in the stores. They a bit soft and not crunchy.

You really need to climb ladders to get to the better fruit. The lower ones were gone very fast. We need to make sure that the ladder is stable. In all, we picked about 11 lbs of cherries from the Westbank farm. Each lb costs $1.25.

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U-Pick Strawberries

Post author:Suanne
Post published:June 21, 2006
Post category:Community Kitchen 2008 U-Pick
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June is the season for strawberries in Vancouver. Nothing beats freshly picked strawberries from the farm. Arkensen loves strawberries and who can resist such sweet and juicy berries.

Strawberry is small plant of the rose family. Strawberries are not really “berries” or fruit in the botanical sense. The real fruit of the strawberry is the strawberry seeds on the outside of the strawberry or properly called “achenes”. The berry is actually the enlarged receptacle and is not reproductive material. That’s why strawberry has to be picked at full ripeness because they cant ripen once picked.

We live very near to some farm lands and the sign for U-Pick Strawberries was up last week.

Here is a list of U-Pick Strawberries farms in Richmond and other parts of Lower Mainland:

Farm	Address	Phone	Notes
G.J. Farms	11300 No.4 Road	604-272-4033
Bob Featherstone Farm	#4 Road south of Steveston Hwy	604-594-9518
W&A Farms	17771 Westminster Hwy	604-278-5667	www.wafarms.ca
Birak Berry Farm	4200 No. 6 Road	604-339-9335	bcstrawberries.com
Krause Berry Farm	6179 248 St. Langley	604-856-5757	http://krauseberryfarms.com
Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association			www.bcstrawberries.com

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