by Andrew Coppolino | June 2024
You-Pick, U-Pick, or Pick Your Own (PYO) farm operations invites fresh produce-loving customers onto farm property to harvest crops – everything from strawberries to apples from early summer to fall – and enjoy a little dollop of “agritourism.” These on-farm, in-the-field experiences can be educational and fun, and are also a way to get the freshest produce at some very good prices (there are no labour costs, no packing and shipping costs, and no “middleman” taking a cut along the value chain).
Here are a few PYO farms in and around Waterloo Region where you can go to enjoy your own farm-to-table experience!
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Downey’s Apple Farm, Maryhill
(519) 590-4777
https://downeysapplefarm.com
Downey’s offers 20 varieties of apples, with PYO of earlier varieties usually beginning in late August. You get a complimentary bag when you arrive at the orchard – head in, pick your apples, and your haul is weighed when you leave.
Downey’s also offers pick your own flowers – several varieties of both sunflowers and zinnias – and provide everything you need to pick them including mason jars and shears.
Downey’s makes it easy to pick your own, so you can have the maximum amount of fun. The $5 entrance fee on weekend & $3 on weekdays includes wagon rides, a corn maze, pumpkin patch, and play field. Open daily in season from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Herrle’s Country Farm Market, St. Agatha
(519) 886-7576
http://herrles.com
Herrle’s is celebrating 60 years! A long-standing and popular country farm market offering a large variety of farm fresh produce (they are known for their sweet corn!), they also offer a 5-acre PYO strawberry patch with straw bedding (to protect the plants and help deter weeds) from their own wheat fields. You can buy a picking basket for strawberries or you bring your own. Charge is by weight and the picking is seven days a week until late afternoon-early evening, or until the patch is picked out each day.
A PYO tip from Herrle’s: pick only the reddest berries and “go slow and stay low,” when picking.
Herrle’s is located at 1243 Erbs Rd, just outside of the village of St. Agatha.
Gillespie’s Garden
(519) 622-2294
[email protected]
Located just outside of Cambridge, Gillespie’s Garden is a strawberry and blueberry farm. Their PYO patches are open in season from 9-5 daily. Gillespie’s also offers frozen strawberries and blueberries from their store year-round.
Marcy’s Berries, Puslinch
(519) 623-0219
marcysberries.com
About 15 minutes east of Cambridge off Regional Road 97, Marcy’s Berries has been a working farm since the mid-1970s. PYO strawberries were planted in 1991 with the first crop in 1992. They plant 12 June-bearing varieties meaning strawberries are generally available until early July.
Marcy’s is certainly a berry specialist. Along with strawberries they also offer PYO haskaps (also known as “honeyberries”), raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries and currants. To find out what you can pick and when, check the Berry Crop Report on their website.
No appointment needed, and there’s no entrance fee. Note that they’re not open on Sunday.
Shuh Orchards, West Montrose
(226) 216-0047
www.shuhorchards.com
Head to West Montrose in the fall for a PYO apple delight. It’s a great experience for kids to learn about orchards, pollinators, apple orchards and farming. A fourth-generation farm, Shuh Orchards has 62,000 apple trees on 50 acres near Elmira. Specialists in Ambrosia, Gala and Honeycrisp – some of the very best apples around. Simply weigh the bag of apples you’ve picked, and pay per pound.
Shuh’s is also a great place for photo shoots (spring time when the apple blossoms are blooming, and fall when the trees are full of bright red apples).
Shuh Orchards is open 7 days a week during picking season (which begins in September): there’s no entrance fee and plenty of onsite parking.
Hoffman’s Strawberries, Heidelberg
(519) 699-4730
www.facebook.com/kwstrawberries
The first harvest of Hoffman strawberries at the farm on Lobsinger Line in Heidelberg was in 1992, according to Ken Hoffman, a sixth-generation farmer. Specialists in what he calls “the quintessential” June-bearing varieties (their preferred varieties over day-neutral or everbearing berries), Hoffman’s strawberry fields are open Monday to Saturday from 8 until 8 during the PYO season. Bring your own container or purchase a re-usable one for $2. Strawberries are weighed and charged per pound.
Hoffman’s features nearly 12 acres of “managed” strawberry fields, meaning PYO from only un-picked rows. Their season lasts about five weeks.
Pinehill Farms, New Hamburg
519-897-7047
www.pinehillfarms.ca
In operation since 2015, Pinehill Farms, owned by Rob and Stacey Musselman, have 10 acres of strawberries with seven of those available for PYO. June-bearing varieties provide berries for picking until the first week of July or so. They also offer special events during picking season, including wagon rides, special Movies in the Field nights, and other fun-themed days. Open Monday to Saturday.
Fay’s Berries, Cambridge
519-648-2865
Fay’s, at 2255 Kossuth Road in Cambridge, offers You-Pick strawberries (they also have a stand on Hwy. 7 location east of Shantz Station Road near Breslau where you can buy ready-picked strawberries). Bring your own containers, or containers can be provided at no charge. Open 9:30 a.m. – 6 P.m. daily, during strawberry season: check their Facebook page for picking status.
“The berries are sweet and plentiful,” the Fay’s Berries voice-mail greeting says. “Have a berry good day!”
Paradise Pointe Orchard, Wellesley
3811 Weimar Line, Wellesley, ON
This family run orchard is open weekends only during apple season for PYO honeycrips, gala and ambrosia apples. Pick fresh apples, sip their homemade apple cider, savour their delicious treats (including apple fritters!), and create lasting memories together.
Open weekends from 9AM-4PM.
PYO Farm Map
Use the map below to locate the farms mentioned above.
And, we’ve added a few additional PYO farms to check out and discover what they’re offering and when!
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Andrew Coppolino is food columnist with CBC-KW and Metroland newspapers. The author of Farm to Table (Swan Parade Press) and co-author of Cooking with Shakespeare (Greenwood Press), he is the 2022 “Joseph Hoare Gastronomic Writer-in-Residence” at the Stratford Chefs School. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @andrewcoppolino.