Picking your own tree-ripened fruit is a fantastic way to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, time outdoors with your loved ones and a healthy treat. We recently visited Southern Hill Farms, where we picked our own blueberries, sunflowers, zinnias and peaches.

Know before you go:

Arrive early to beat the crowds and mid-day heat.
Before visiting, check their website to see which crops are available.
Southern Hill makes picking easy. You will be provided with scissors, cardboard boxes, buckets and bags with water to collect and store your fruit and flowers.
Bring or rent a wagon for $8 to save yourself from tired arms and multiple trips to your car, which is not the ideal place to leave your fresh produce between pickings. The wagons are first come first serve, so this is another reason to arrive early.
U-pick blueberries are $5/lb, peaches are $4/lb, zinnias are $1/flower and sunflowers are $2/flower.
Pre-picked fruit and flowers are available for purchase along with green beans, zuchini, yellow squash and sweet corn.
Flower field passes are required to cut your own flowers for $5 plus tax for guests 10 and older or $2 plus tax for guests 3 to 9.
Reservations and tickets are not required for entry to the farm.

Let’s get picking!

I suggest you start with picking the peaches first. Compared to the blueberries, there are naturally fewer ripe peaches at a time but we were still able to find some ripe peaches high in the trees well into the late afternoon. Peaches are ready to be picked when they are soft to the touch, large, rounded and blood orange in color. This is important to remember as peaches will ripen, but not sweeten once picked.

Next, I would recommend picking the blueberries. Strolling through the blueberry bushes sampling the berries was easily my favorite part of the day. It was very peaceful and relaxed compared to my usual adventures swimming, hiking or kayaking. When picking blueberries, pay attention to the coloring. You want them to be deep blue/purple and avoid any that still have spots of red, pink or white.

This is my biggest tip! Pick your flowers last as they are extremely fragile. We picked our flowers first and the zinnias wilted quickly in the heat even in a jar of water.

Food trucks and a children’s area with bounce houses, jump pads, slides and carnival rides provided even more fun at Southern Hill Farms. I had an epic smoothie bowl from Absofruitly while the kids played. It was as delicious as it looked.