Berry Fun Day

We finally had some humid-free beautiful weather this past weekend and wanted to take advantage of it.  Mike has been talking about berry picking for months now and we finally got our act together and went.  We found a place all the way out east on Long Island (about 1 1/2 hour ride from Queens) and took along Jenna's grandma, aunt and her #1 favorite first cousin (Jenna seriously ADORES her cousin Ella, who is 3 1/2 years old).

I found the farm by checking out this site which gives lists of local farms in your area. We picked Patty's Berries and Bunches because they got the best reviews and talked about some "family fun" being across the street. They did not disappoint.  This was seriously a highlight of our whole summer.  We got to pick the most amazing raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries I have ever seen and eaten.  It was like candy.  The girls had a blast - The bushes were right at their eye-level, so picking was easy for them and since they don't use pesticides or spray, they could eat right off the bushes.  Needless to say they both had messy hands and faces!  Mike apparently knows a bit about berry picking (which was news to me) and "taught" the girls how to know if the berry is good for picking and they both filled up their own baskets. 

After about an hour and a half of picking berries, we headed across the street for some "family fun" at Harbes Farm and Vineyard. And it was awesome. We had some great snacks (corn on the cob, muffins, cookies) that were all delicious.  And then we went to the farm area where the girls could pet the animals, do a potato sack race, watch a pig race, ride a pony, check out a bee hive....the list goes on. 

I feel like an advertisement for these places but they were really that good.  It was a bit of a drive for us, but well worth it.  And we stopped along the way at some farm stands and picked up some amazing cucumbers, tomatoes, and peaches. 

I picked the winning pig &  won some kettle corn!