Hi everyone!
In case you haven’t noticed, PYO (pick-your-own) season is in full swing now with the arrival of strawberries last week (not to mention sunshine!). So this time of year we like to revise and update our ever-expanding list of farms and orchards that we have visited over the years here at Out and About Mom.
Fruit-picking is one of our favorite family activities. Pretty much since our kiddos could walk (and sometimes even before they could walk!) we’ve been bringing them along on PYO outings. Fresh air and fresh fruit are a winning combination! Plus, many PYO destinations have other activities like play areas, animals, farm market stores and even festivals (hello, corn mazes!) in the fall.
The original OAAM team (Sparkles-left, Boo-center, Bruiser-right) takes the field in 2012.
Mandy and Sweetheart make great picking partners at Scott’s Yankee Farmer in East Lyme in 2013.
Sparkles and Bruiser working hard to collect their fruity loot in 2013.
This crew (mommy, Boo and the little guy) is determined to conquer the corn maze at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford in 2013.
Boo and Sweetheart riding the wagon out to pick pumpkins at Karabin Farms in Southington in 2014.
The little guy gets in on the action at Rogers Orchards in Southington in 2014.
Sweetheart (right) and a pal sample the strawberries at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield in 2015.
Boo (right) and the little guy (who never officially got a blog name–oops!) picking strawberries at Rose’s Berry Farm in Glastonbury in 2016.
A couple years back we put together a handy list of our favorite PYO places, and since then we’ve been doing our best to keep that list up-to-date with new destinations and current information.
As I’m sure you know by now, we only include places that we have actually been to and blogged about on this list. So there are probably lots of fantastic destinations that we aren’t covering.
This year, we’d really like to call on our readers to give us some new recommendations for PYO places that we need to check out this summer. We would especially love suggestions from western and eastern CT, regions of the state that we are less familiar with since we are based in the Hartford (central CT) area.
Also, please make sure you take a moment to check out each destination’s website or, even better, their Facebook page for up-to-the-minute updates about field conditions and PYO offerings before you head out. And do note that many of these posts are from a few years back, so although they should still give you a good idea of the overall experience, they may contain some outdated information as well. Another important reason to visit their websites before your actual visit 🙂
So take a look at this list, check out some of our top picks for picking, and be sure to let us know (by leaving a comment on this post or by sending an email to outandaboutmom@gmail.com) what other PYO destinations are destined to be our new favorites.
Let’s savor this all-too-short season where we literally get to enjoy the fruits of our labor 🙂
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR LIST OF CONNECTICUT PYO DESTINATIONS.
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Would love to see more destinations closer to the Farmington Valley side. Going to Southington or East Lyme for example is a bit of a hike for us. One place I’ve been to in Harwington is Deeply Rooted Farms. They have great strawberries and just opened for the season. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the suggestion, Sharon!