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Adventures Out

Blueberries by the Bucketful

Imagine gathering blueberries on a hillside with your child, only to discover that it’s no longer your child lagging behind you. It’s Mama Bear’s cub instead! In the
classic children’s book Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (1948), that’s what happens. Sal gets distracted and accidentally follows Mama Bear’s foraging footsteps, while the baby cub surprises Sal’s mom. Both families are preparing for winter by gathering berries, but the two “children” are too distracted to collect much.

You probably won’t run into a bear when you set out to pick blueberries, but these four pick-your-own farms offer plenty to see and enjoy. Blueberry season typically runs from mid-July to mid-September, though the weather influences the length of the harvest. Call ahead to find out if the blueberries are ripe for picking – and if there are any left!

Play and Picnic

Bob and Barbara Morehouse own and operate Wheeler Brook Farm in Georgetown. Besides pick-your-own crops, they have a self-service farm stand featuring only products grown on their 10-acre plot. After you pick blueberries, dig for treasure in the Penny Heaven sandbox, play on the swings, give a treat to Samantha the donkey or Bart the goat, and enjoy a picnic. Check out their web site for a pie-crust recipe.

See Bees and Chickens

Three generations of the Cook family run Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury. Besides pick-your-own crops, Cider Hill has a full-service store with a special bee observation area (for pollinating all those fruit trees!), and Red Star hens clucking around back. Much of the energy from the farm comes from three wind turbines, a solar panel array – and international agricultural students
serving one-year internships at Cider Hill.

Walk Around the Pond

With 140 acres, Connors Farm in Danvers is one of the largest farms in the area protected by agricultural preservation restrictions. It’s been in business since 1904, starting off as a "truck farm" that trucked produce to Boston for the wholesale market. Now Connors Farm sells its crops from its full-service store. After picking fresh blueberries, take a walk around the three-acre pond, visit the barnyard animals, and have a picnic.

See Goats in the Air!

Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro dedicates eight of its 93 acres near the Merrimack River to 10 different types of blueberries. After picking your pint or two, stop at the farmstand store for homemade strawberry, blueberry, or apple-cider donuts. In addition to two animal barns featuring sheep, bunnies, and chickens, there are goats climbing along platforms 20 feet in the air, between the trees! Send the goats some feed through the pulley system, run through the hay bale maze and learn about tractors with Farmer Mark.

For more pick-your-own farms, check out Pick Your Own and MassGrown.

(BPP, 08/09)

Side Streets

Before your next night on the town, visit Restaurant.com for big savings at local eateries. 

 Bypass theater ticket lines. Buy movie tickets in advance at Fandango.com. Read reviews and find showtimes for any movie in the U.S.

© 2003-2009 Robin C. Mason, WordsWorth2
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