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Georgia Small PlatesU-Pick: Fun Days on the Farm

U-Pick: Fun Days on the Farm

Growing up in a family which owned farms or made large gardens, I never considered the seasonal harvest as a source of amazement and fun. But as we’ve evolved into a more suburban, supply-chain dependent society, our family has rediscovered the simple joys of spending a few hours at a farm and learning more about how our food is produced.

Our favorite farm days are the seasonal U-Pick events, when we get the freshest seasonal offerings and an experience with the kids and grand kids.

Since moving to Georgia, we’ve loaded the family into the minivan for a few hours or a full day at some of Georgia’s agritourism destinations. We always enjoy great selections of fresh produce, but our favorite days are the various U-Pick options offered during seasonal harvests.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many locations have changed procedures to include protective requirements and distancing. We recommend calling ahead to learn more.

Before we get knee-deep in strawberries or over our heads in a peach orchard, let’s say that a farm visit might just be a pandemic-perfect outing. While COVID-19 has changed procedures at many farms, it’s still possible to enjoy the U-Pick days and farm visits while maintaining social distance. Many location have changed their procedures to accommodate social distancing, including limiting admittance. We’d recommend that you contact a farm before visiting to learn about specifics. (And our visit to Jaemor was in pre-COVID days, thus the closer quarters and unmasked participants.)

Heading South to Southern Belle

Southern Belle Farms, located near McDonough, GA, features a large farm store, expanded weekend farm experiences and seasonal U-Pick options.

After months of sheltering in close quarters, we sought a safe family outing that would get us out of the house for a day. So while it’s not necessary for us to drive this far to enjoy a farm visit, the wide open spaces and social-distancing-friendly procedures at Southern Belle Farm provided a perfect solution. Plus, we were attracted to the wide variety of U-Pick options available in mid-June, including blackberries, blueberries, peaches and strawberries. We checked the website for information, then made an additional call to confirm details before deciding to visit.

The colorful and delightful blackberry plants are extensive and easy to reach. This sure beats hunting blackberries in the wild along fence rows.
The blueberry patch was reaching peak readiness when we visited in mid-June. We elected the option to pick a mixed basket of berries, including blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.

Upon arrival, we headed to the check-in gates and faced our first decision: what would we pick and how much. We made the easy decision, and selected the option for a large basket of mixed berries plus a small quantity of peaches. Baskets in hands, we headed to the blueberry and blackberry patches first. We walked through several rows, then found a sweet spot where ripe berries were in easiest reach for our grandsons. With quick instruction and a little encouragement, the youngsters reached in without delay.

For most of the visit, we were far enough from other pickers to leave our masks off. But when others came close, we could slip them on and off quickly.

We repeated this process for the peaches, seeking an isolated spot in the center of a long row where few others ventured. We were fortunate that many peaches were within easy reach of the 5-and-7-year olds, though some lifting and shoulder time was enjoyed. We then ventured to the strawberry field, where the low-growing plants made it easiest to find an unoccupied area. Filling our remaining berry basket space quickly, we finished our field time and headed to the country market for some refreshing treats.

Family Days at Jaemor

In contrast to the mid-week, mid-day, early summer visit to Southern Belle, we headed to Jaemor Farms early on an August weekend (in 2019) to enjoy one of their U-Pick days for peaches. Our early arrival helped us avoid the longer lines and more crowded spaces that we saw as we left later in the day.

In the pre-COVID days at Jaemor Farms, we joined other visitors on a wagon ride out to the peach tree orchard. Our grandsons were thrilled with their tractor and wagon time.

This was our first peach-picking experience, and the friendly Jaemor workers offered their tips on finding and picking the best fruit. On this visit, our plan was to stock-up on peaches for snacking, baking for the upcoming holidays and making refreshing daiquiris during the end of summer. With seven pickers using 14 hands, we snagged two large boxes in less than 40 minutes — even after trying to slow our little helpers in order to stretch out our visit time.

We met several of these harmless residents as we picked peaches. The first view always sent the little ones away squealing, but we were able to bring them back for some teachable moments about the benefits of insects.

Finished with our fresh harvest, we boarded the wagon for the return trip, then stopped in at the farm market for more selections. We grabbed ripe tomatoes, a variety of peas and beans, plus some bright-green okra from the well-stocked shelves before returning to the minivan to stash the bounty.

Before, after or without the picking experience, most of these farms also offer extensive market selections of regionally-grown goods. The Georgia Grown program is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and promotes farms throughout the state.

But we weren’t done — of course there was still time for the other treats, but more on that later.

Falling for Burt’s

Near Dawsonville, GA, Burt’s Farm is one of our favorite fall stops. We’ve visited on the busy weekend to enjoy the full range of adventures including hayrides, petting zoo, country crafts, homemade treats and Halloween pumpkin selection, though we prefer the quiet weekdays when we often combine it with a hike at nearby Amicalola Falls.

Fall weekends are the busiest times at Burt’s Farm, when families come to find the perfect pumpkin for Halloween. It’s also the time when the farm offers a full range of family adventures, including wagon rides, a petting zoo, and fresh farm treats.

While it’s not a U-Pick farm, you’ll enjoy Burt’s wide selection of virtually every size and type of pumpkin you can imagine during the fall season. Wheelbarrows are provided to help you move your large, heavy and multiple selections.

While we enjoy the weekend fun with the whole family, we often stop by Burt’s during those fall weekdays when we visit nearby Amicalola Falls. You can always find Burt’s offerings online throughout the year.

Since pumpkins are one of the main attractions, you’ll be 100% correct if you guessed that the most crowded times are the October weekends preceding Halloween. If you use pumpkins for cooking and not just decorations, the best time to visit Burt’s may be those weekdays following Oct. 31 when the crowds are gone and the selection remains plentiful. That’s when we return to grab those small, sweet pumpkins that are perfect for pie-making, and also make an authentic and healthy base for real pumpkin smoothies.

During previous fall visits, we enjoyed time in the petting zoo. But before you plan a family visit beginning Sept. 1, 2020, we recommend you contact the farm directly to see what’s available.

How Ya Like Them Apples?

Fall is apple picking time in North Georgia, and we’ve been up to Ellijay several times for both sweet and tart varieties. The Red Apple Barn has been among our favorite stops, where you can also enjoy wagon rides. And in October, they also offer pick-your-own-pumpkins.

Rather than fight huge weekend crowds, we visited BJ Reece orchards with our grandkids on one of our “wandering Wednesdays” when things are quiet and distancing is easy.

For our first 2020 trip, we visited another favorite, BJ Reece Orchards, and snagged a peck of September Wonder and Golden Delicious varieties. Weekends are mad houses here, with large crowds and lots of family-friendly farm fun like the petting zoo. Rather than fight those crowds, we visited BJ Reece on one of our Wandering Wednesdays when things are quiet and distancing is easy.

We headed down to the far end of the rows, where only the most intrepid and adventurous pickers had picked before. Even after two weekends of big crowds, our kiddos were able to reach and pick the ripe fruits from ground level.

Even after two weekends of big crowds, we found apples in easy reach from ground level for the grandkids, making it an easy-on-the-back-if-not-the-wallet outing.

After the short one made short work of filling our bag, we dropped our fresh apples at the car and ventured into the farm store to be tempted by more apple varieties and the always-tempting array of farm-baked goodies.

We couldn’t decide among apple donuts, an apple stick, apple fritters, apple cider and a pumpkin cream-cheese roll, so we did what good grandparents do and purchased all of them!

Decisions, decisions . . . are not necessary. Life’s short. Buy one of everything.

While we’ve mentioned Red Apple Barn and BJ Reece here, you’ll find a plethora of other choices in the Apple Capital of North Georgia. One thing you won’t find in 2020 is the Apple Festival. It’s been cancelled due to Covid-19.

Fresh Farm Treats!

It’s not all about the vegetables on our farm visits! Virtually every agritourism farm offers a tempting array of fresh-made goodies to satisfy the sweet tooth. And since we’re 100% into the full-flavored farm fun, it would be down-right irresponsible to ignore these converted culinary creations.

There’s much more to farm fresh than produce. When visiting with our without grandkids, we always explore the bakery and specialty items. Strawberry donuts and soft-serve peach ice cream are among our favorites at Jaemor.

In fact, if I was honest with myself and my family when they suggest such visits, I might just admit that the cakes, candies, cobblers, donuts, ice cream and pies are my primary reasons for these trips. But instead of incriminating myself when my doctor might also be reading, I’ll suffice it to say that we always allow our teenage son and grand kids to pick these treats as rewards for their patience and good behavior.

The heapin’ helpin’ of blackberry cobbler at Southern Belle Farm was the perfect way to end a mid-day June visit.
Who loves their visits to Georgia farms?

More on Georgia Agri-Tourism

Farm fresh in Georgia means close inspection, hand selection and a much wider variety of choices than your local grocery. When we visit the farm, we often get sufficient quantities to pickle, can or freeze our goodies for year-round enjoyment.

Moving to Georgia more than five years ago, we knew nothing about the state’s commitment to promoting its farms and farmers. We discovered the Georgia Grown agri-tourism promotion program by accident, driving the backroads of rural Georgia on the way to Amicalola Falls when we saw a state-sponsored road sign for Gibbs Gardens. Without internet connection in the car, we looked it up back at home, and we were introduced to the rich offerings throughout the state. Since then, we’ve become regular users of the Georgia Grown website to locate fun and filling stops for our in-state adventures.

We also were delighted to learn about the Georgia Farm Bureau’s certified farm market program, including the farm passport program. Because of COVID-19, we haven’t been able to explore the farms necessary to collect prize-winning passport stamps, but we have used the online and printed resources as great planning tools for upcoming trips.

Also Mentioned Here

Here are a few of our other blogs about places and adventures we’ve mentioned in this post:

  • Amicalola Falls. Near to Burt’s Farm in Dawsonville, it’s the tallest waterfall in the Southeast, cascading more than 600 feet.
  • Gibbs Gardens. This 220-acre botanical wonderland is one of the nation’s largest residential estate gardens.
  • Driving Georgia Back Roads. We’ve found some interesting and intriguing locations on our drives from here to there.
  • Our Favorite Fall Spots. Yes, fall is our favorite Georgia season, and here are some of our favorite spots to visit for fall color.

DeanLand
DeanLandhttp://ourtravelcafe.com
Inquisitive traveler -- 33 countries, 48 states. Sometimes cyclist, occasional hiker, over-experienced diner. Cajun by birth, Parrothead by choice, Baby Boomer by age, Southerner by the grace of God. Semi-retired career marketeer, with a career serving the foodservice and food retail industries. Sharing experiences is an avocation.

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