Look for treats like ice cream, swimming and a historic getaway at our local farms
If you’re a blueberry fan, this is a sweet time of year. The season is just getting underway for the super fruit.
You’ll be able to find blueberries at local farmers’ markets or keep an eye on the Red Hills Small Farm Alliance online market and order from there. One of the best ways to enjoy the blueberry season is to stop by one of our local, family-owned farms and pick them yourself.
Gathering berries is fun – and not a back-breaking venture. But there’s more than that. It’s a memorable experience for the whole family.
At Green Meadows Farm in Monticello, you can sit on a farm bench and gobble homemade blueberry ice cream or blueberry lemonade tea. When you’re at Blueberry Springs, after picking berries, walk a short distance to the Wacissa River springs where you can swim, go canoeing or kayaking. Pick berries or flowers at Blue Sky Berry Farm. You can now rent the cabins at Jubilee Orchards – if you book a cabin during berry season, you’ll get 25 percent off organic berries picked during your stay.
Sienna Lee Gardens features a blueberry farm amid 20 acres of live oaks in Tallahassee. The site also offers a home available for private rental or for events.
Tips from farmers: When you go picking, arrive early before the heat of the day. Shoes, socks, hats and sunscreen are recommended. Blueberries should come right off the branches. You shouldn’t have to tug.
If I’m missing your blueberry farm, please let me know and I’ll add your info. The site, localharvest.org, is also a source of the latest farm info.
The flower U-Pick at Monticello’s Blue Sky Berry Farm. Photo / Blue Sky Berry Farm
Blue Sky Berry Farm: The farm offers visitors both a blueberry and fresh flower outing. The U-Pick season starts in June and July. Rose Murray, owner of Blue Sky, has a U-Pick flower field for the public, sells fresh cut flowers to markets and offers the Flower Bar, a mobile flower experience and tap dispensary. Rose is also creating The Arbors of Blue Sky, a cozy space with flower beds and arches. Blue Sky Berry Farm is at 1180 Asheville Hwy., Monticello; 850-566-4182.
Blueberry season will be starting about May 15 at Blueberry Springs. Photo / Blueberry Springs
Blueberry Springs: You can pick rabbiteye blueberries at this family-owned farm by Wacissa River Springs. The farm, owned by Jack Krause for more than 30 years, will be open from 7 a.m. to noon and afternoon by appointment. The picking season should start on May 15. Check Facebook for updated hours and info. (Bring cash or check.) The farm is off a road that ends at the mouth of the springs. “You can leave your car here and walk to the springs,” Jack said. Aside from canoeing and kayaking, there’s a gazebo and a rope swing. 383 Wacissa Springs Road, Monticello; 850-997-1238.
Blueberry ice cream at Green Meadows Farm. Photo / Tallahassee Table
Green Meadows Farm: The season is expected to start about May 24/25, with hours from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Along with blueberries, owners Delores and Ronny Green will offer their homemade blueberry ice cream, blueberry lemonade tea and blueberry fritters. If you’re there when Delores is making her Key lime ice cream, it will be an especially good day. The season is expected to last four or five weekends if Mother Nature cooperates. (Pay by cash or check). 117 E. Bluebird Rd., Monticello; 850-997-4886.
You can stay at the Senator Cabin at Jubilee Orchards — and pick berries. Photo / Jubilee Orchards.
Jubilee Orchards: The historic complex will be offering the first blueberries of the season, expected to start April 26. Hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Jubilee Orchards is also offering an enticing getaway this spring. You can stay in one of the Cabins at Jubilee Orchards on Sunday through Thursday at $159 per night. It’s $199 per night on Friday and Saturday (there’s a two-night minimum stay). You’ll find the cabins on Airbnb and VRBO. These are the cabins that former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles retreated to recharge. There’s the Senator Cabin, the Governor Cabin and the Jubilee Cabin. See the orchard website for more info. 12008 Miccosukee Rd. , Tallahassee; 850-385-7800. https://jubileeorchards.com/
This house, by the blueberry bushes at Sienna Lee Gardens, is available for rentals. Photo / Sienna Lee Gardens
Sienna Lee Gardens: Kathryn Smith Chaffee describes the joy of picking wild blueberries when she was a child. Now, she owns an oasis of greenery, with live oaks, lots of wildlife and a blueberry U-Pick farm on 20 acres in Tallahassee. The farm is open from 9 a.m. to noon and 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday to Sunday when their U-Pick starts in late May/early June (with seven varieties of Rabbiteye berries. The types are labeled on the trees). Sienna Lee Gardens features a four bedroom/2/.5-bedroom home with a pool next to their blueberry garden that you can rent. The site is also a venue for weddings and other private events. 6591 Proctor Rd., Tallahassee; 323-493-7131.
charming newly remodelled home.
