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It just doesn’t get much better than fresh fruits and veggies. Luckily, there are some wonderful pick-your-own fruit farms in Texas where you can stock up on the sweetest, most flavorful crops this season. If you enjoy picking your own fruit, here are seven of our favorite options for fruit picking in Texas.

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Have you ever visited any of these fruit farms in Texas? What’s your favorite pick-your-own fruit farm in the state? Let us know in the comments!

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4/21/23 - By Rachael Cherry

Berry picking season is finally upon us in Houston, with some pick-your-own farms open for strawberries and others offering blackberries and blueberries in the very near future. Take advantage of Mother Nature's seasonal bounty by visiting one of these 12 pick-your-own farms near Houston. Berry picking is a fun way to get out of the house for some fresh air, and there's no sweeter treat than a fresh-from-the-vine berry. As a bonus, most of these pick-your-own farms near Houston are owned by local families, which means your trip supports a small, family-owned businesses. Many local berry farms sweeten the deal even more with farm animals to visit, freshly baked goodies to nosh on, tractor rides to enjoy, and other agriculturally inspired fun.

Be sure to visit our Pick-Your-Own Guide for more seasonal fun at Houston's area farms.

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Fill your kitchen with pick-your-own strawberries and more from Blessington Farms. Photo courtesy of the farm

1. Blessington Farms – Simonton

The strawberries at Blessington typically ripen for picking March through May, then blueberries take over in late April through June, and blackberries grab center stage for the summer months. Picking begins at 9am and closes at 4—or when the pads are picked over, whichever happens first. There is no admission fee for anyone coming solely for berry picking; general admission fees are charged for those wanting to pick berries and play at Farm Funland. For the most up-to-date information regarding berry picking and this year's availability, call the farm before your visit.

2. Atkinson Farms – Spring

Atkinson Farms invites families out for strawberry picking during peak strawberry season, promising some of the freshest and best-tasting berries in Houston. Additionally, the farm grows seasonal produce year-round, which can be bought on-site and at local farmers markets. Visit its Facebook page for up-to-date information on what's available for picking or pickup. The farm season runs from March 1 through October 31 annually.

3. Jollisant Farms – Plantersville

Jollisant Farms usually offers strawberry picking from February through June and blackberry picking in the summer months when available. Outside of berries, the farm also offers pumpkin picking in the fall and seasonal fruit and vegetable picking year-round. The farm also hosts field trips and offers fishing opportunities, a small playground, and a picnic area. Visitors can bring their own bucket or borrow one of the farm's picking buckets. We love this place because it does not use pesticides or chemicals on its fruits and veggies! Be sure to check the Facebook page to find out what's ready to pick.

4. Blakelock's Berries – Grangerland

Blueberries and blackberries abound at Blakelock's Berries. Starting mid to late May and continuing through June, the farm is ripe for pick-your-own fun, and all berries are $4 per pound! Customers can bring their own buckets or use the ones provided. Blakelock's also provides containers to transport berries home. Visit the farm's Facebook page for regular updates on availability and hours.

Texas blueberries abound for pick your own fun at B&M Farms. Photo courtesy of the farm

5. B&M Farms – Silsbee

If you're looking for fresh blueberries, look no further than B&M Farms, where you can eat while you pick. The farm specializes in providing high-quality Texas blueberries starting in late May and running through the early summer months. It is open for both u-pick and pre-picked purchases. Make sure to stop into the store before you leave for even more fresh produce and unique gifts. Blueberry season typically runs from late May to early July.

6. Moorhead's Blueberry Farm – Conroe

With more than 20 acres and 20 different types of blueberries, Moorhead's pretty much assures visitors get to leave with a good haul. Water and soft drinks are available for purchase, and containers for picking are provided. There are also picnic tables on the property, so pack a lunch and make a day out of your blueberry picking experience. Hours and days vary by season and availability, so call or check their Facebook page before heading to the farm. Be advised that Moorhead's only accepts cash or check. Blueberry season typically runs from late May to early July.

7. Chmielewski's Blueberry Farm – Hockley

Nine different blueberry varieties span seven acres of farmland at Chmielewski's, so you can expect a tasty haul when taking advantage of the pick-your-own option at this farm. Buckets for picking blueberries and plastic bags for transporting them home are provided, however you can bring your own containers as well. This farm offers three ways to pick, including filling buckets and paying per pound, filling a designated container with 2.5 lbs worth of berries, or filling a designated ziplock bag with 2 lbs of blueberries. Picking season begins in late May and lasts approximately six weeks. Hours vary based on weather and availability, so call before coming. Blueberry season typically runs from late May to early July.

8. Berryland Farms of Texas – Winnie

Beginning in May each year, Berryland Farms offers customers "u-pick it" for blackberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and vegetables. The farm is open to the public for picking during berry season, which runs from mid-May to mid-July. Visit the Facebook page for current hours and picking conditions, and be forewarned: the early bird really does get the worm. If you can't arrive at its 8am opening, the farm suggests calling to see if there's anything left to pick before venturing out.

Strawberry picking kicks off the season at P-6 Farms. Photo courtesy of the farm

9. P-6 Farms – Montgomery

Head on over to P-6 Farms for "u-pick" blackberries and sunflowers. The season usually kicks off at the end of May. No outside buckets are allowed, but the farm does have buckets available for purchase that can be reused each visit. Buckets hold approximately 6 lbs of berries. While you're at P-6 Farms, you can also check out its hayrides and seasonal family activities, as well as get up-close-and-personal with its farm animals.

10. Thomas Family Ranch – Sealy

This family-owned farm offers blackberry picking beginning mid-May. The farm is also home to thoroughbred horses for sale that are beautiful to look at during berry picking visits. Last year, this farm required reservations for picking, so it's best to call ahead this year just in case.

Strawberry picking near Houston at Froberg's Farm. Photo courtesy of Froberg's Farm

11. Froberg's Farm – Alvin

Beginning in January and running through late May, Froberg's Farm opens up its strawberry fields, weather permitting. No outside buckets are allowed; however, reusable buckets are available for purchase for $2. Strawberry season is followed by blackberry picking in May through July. You can also pick sunflowers, English peas, squash, green beans, zinnia flowers, and cosmos flowers when available. Pricing varies by what is being picked. Admission to the farm costs $3 per person and includes access to the Berry Fun Land playground. On weekends, the whole family can enjoy a mining sluice, fun games, rides, and activities. After you're done picking and playing, stop by the country store to pick up fresh jams and jellies, homegrown fruits and vegetables, pies, and more.

12. Fruit 'N Such Orchard – Dickinson

Fruit 'N Such Orchard in Dickinson offers blackberry and blueberry picking, and as of late April, is already offering both. Pricing and you-pick times and dates vary yearly depending on plant growth. This family-owned farm also features pick-your-own citrus fruits, peaches, and assorted vegetables throughout the year. Be sure to check the Facebook page for picking availability and opening times. Before you head out to the orchard, we recommend calling for updates and availability.

When most people travel, they might come home with photos and a souvenir T-shirt, or maybe some housewares or local art. Saundra Winokur brought back an entire olive orchard.

Visits to Italy in 1994 and Spain in ’99 inspired Winokur to recreate that Mediterranean setting in her home state, just south of San Antonio. After living in Manhattan for 14 years, taking art classes and illustrating children’s books, she had returned to Texas to help take care of family. “I’m a sixth-generation Texan, and most of my folks ranched, so certainly I wanted to have cattle, but I also wanted to do something else,” she says. “It seemed to me that olives could be a good crop for Texas. That was based on spending time in a number of places that, when I visited orchards there, reminded me of Texas.”

25195 Mathis Road, Elmendorf 210-621-0044 sandyoaks.com

Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard opens Wed-Sat 11 a.m.-3 p.m. with weekly orchard tours Sat 11:30 a.m.

And while there are about a dozen olive orchards in the state today, there were skeptics when Winokur began experimenting with different species of olive trees on her property in the late 1990s. To prepare for the opening of her orchard, Winokur conducted research and networked with others in Texas who were planting olive trees. A Texas A&M study from the 1930s that she found online during her exploration seemed discouraging—it concluded that olive trees wouldn’t produce in the drought-prone state. Winokur decided to continue testing anyway through trial and error, evaluating 38 different varieties from regions with climates similar to South Texas.

Winokur first purchased olive trees from Egypt, where she had toured orchards and learned propagation techniques first-hand. “I ordered 1,000 trees, and they ended up at Heathrow [airport] on the dock for 10 days,” she says. “Then I ordered another 1,000 and routed them through Amsterdam. Those came beautifully within two to three days, but olive trees have knotted roots, so when customs agents looked at them without using a microscope they decided they had nematodes—or roundworms—and fumigated the whole lot. At that point, I ordered trees from California.”

“It seemed to me that olives could be a good crop for Texas.”

Twenty years later, those California trees, along with trees from Spain and Tunisia, now flourish at Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard, which in addition to making olive oil for retail and wholesale purposes, serves as an educational getaway that emphasizes the benefits of natural ingredients. On Saturdays at 11:30 a.m., just after opening the orchard, Winokur gives visitors a tour of the property and shares an overview of the olive industry in Texas. She also instructs the crowd on how to store olive oil properly.

A former elementary school teacher and college professor, Winokur is still an educator at heart and enjoys passing along her knowledge.

Winokur is also an artist who studied collage and pastel at the Art Institute of Chicago and printmaking in Tuscany. At Sandy Oaks, she has created an orchard straight from a landscape painting, with a long, olive tree-lined private drive, a patio studded with fresh herbs growing in rustic pots, large oak trees providing shade, and cattle grazing in the field, which in turn has made it a popular venue for weddings and photo shoots.

Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard hosts regular workshops to educate visitors about the versatility of the olive tree and to encourage using more natural ingredients and products. To RSVP for an upcoming class or get more information, call 210-621-0044.

Two Holiday Cakes Workshop

Nov. 10

In this course, attendees learn how to decorate a Yule Log and how to bake a King Solomon’s Cake, two traditional holiday treats. $15

Jelly and Jam Workshop

December

Guest instructor Connie Sheppard teaches guests how to make unusual jams and jellies for holiday gifting. Date TBD. Free

From the Kitchen to the Spa

Jan. 12

This class showcases the many useful products that can be crafted from olive oil. Guests make and take home a vinaigrette, a metal polish, and a bath oil. $20

When the tour concludes, visitors can taste the fruits of Winokur’s labor with lunch at the restaurant, just inside the gift shop. The menu offers an antipasto appetizer with meat, cheese, and, of course, olives; soups such as tomato basil with jalapeño cornbread; and entrées including paninis and sandwiches. On the sweeter side are limoncello cake with whipped cream and strawberry sauce as well as gelato.

After the meal, a peek in the gift shop reveals tables laden with displays of edible items and body products made from olives grown on the property. Highlights include olive-leaf tea (Winokur emphasizes being a zero-waste operation, so the tea uses an often-discarded part of the plant), brined olives, olive oil, tapenade, and olive bread; and handmade skincare and beauty products, including salve, soaps, body lotion, body oil, body butter, hair and beard oil, and bug spray.

But the real stars are outside the gift shop: rows and rows of drought-tolerant olive trees to take home and create your own Mediterranean oasis. Winokur is happy to tell you how.

From the November 2018 issue

From Texas Public Radio:

Most years, early August would be the time that peach season in the Texas Hill Country would be winding to a close.

As children return to school and summer ends, peach growers begin to see fewer visitors and fruit being picked. But for peach-lovers, an August trip to Fredericksburg is still worth your while, especially due to this year’s unique conditions.

Because of the intense drought this summer, accompanied by record-breaking temperatures, the harvest was delayed by two to three weeks. This means there are more peaches later in the summer, but many growers have had reduced volume to sell.

The weather is unpredictable, and farmers always have to be ready to adapt. Additionally, the Hill Country is growing in population which puts a strain on land and water resources. Land prices are so high that it would be very difficult for any new growers to come in, and the industry is already declining.

To some, these may sound like insurmountable challenges. For the old-timers of the peach industry, this is just part of the gig. They’ve pretty much seen it all before, and they are optimistic about the future.

Studebaker Farms, for instance, is not afraid to change things up to adapt. Experimenting and keeping up with the latest research is a key part of their operation.

“We’re looking at some things they’ve done out of state and trying to kind of modernize the way we grow here because the land’s gotten so expensive,” said Russ Studebaker.

The farm is run by Studebaker and his wife, Lori. They have two employees in the fields, and a few people that help out with sales.

“This hasn’t been a lucrative year. We’re not really making any money, but we’re surviving,” Studebaker said.

But they’ve seen worse years than this and have even lost a whole crop before. As long as there are peaches, customers will come. Though there are many orchards, the Studebaker’s peaches are revered and they create a personal, welcoming environment.

“We have a really good, loyal customer base,” he said.

Studebaker Farms is one of the smaller peach orchards in the Fredericksburg area.

Studebaker purchased his land in 1992, and has grown peaches ever since. However, he’s actually one of the newer growers in the area, given that so many are multi-generational family businesses that have been around since the mid-20th century.

“We’re a smaller orchard,” Lori Studebaker said. “We determined that we wanted to be a little bit different.”

For instance, Studebaker Farms picks their peaches in flat boxes instead of large crates. These include plastic inserts that keep the peaches safe and secure. This way, they aren’t on top of each other, so they don’t bruise and one bad peach won’t affect others. This also allows the Studebakers to pick the peaches ripe and get fresh fruit right to the customer.

Their trees are planted close together and require skillful pruning. They are also using experimental rootstocks from the USDA to help maximize land.

“We see the future is that we’re growing the same amount of peaches on fewer acreage,” Studebaker said.

He approaches farming scientifically and explained his craft with a studious expertise. He’s constantly learning and working on ways to do things better.

Studebaker said he doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he is serious about the quality of his peaches. If there are any complaints, which is rare, he will send customers a refund.

“Peaches are hard work. They’re risky,” Studebaker said.

The drought may be a challenge but it’s not the only weather-related threat. The late freeze in March this year caused them to lose about four different peach varieties.

For farmers, it’s necessary to change with the climate.

“Over the years, you’re going to have to start changing and you kind of adapt with peaches. They used to grow varieties here that we wouldn’t grow now,” Studebaker said.

With the lack of rainfall, irrigation has to see them through. Peaches grown in these dry conditions are smaller than normal, but they’re also sweeter. They don’t plant the varieties that last into September but there will still be peaches available at Studebaker Farms though mid-August.

Unlike many local growers, the Studebakers only produce peaches. They are located on the side of U.S. Route 290 directly between Fredericksburg and Stonewall. Their wooden storefront may not be as large or obvious as some of the area’s orchards, but customers know they can depend on them.

Clearly, their success depends on their ability to innovate, but also their perseverance and discipline. The farmwork goes all through the year, and they have had to work other jobs to make a living.

“Everything breaks on the weekend,” Studebaker said, smiling.

Studebaker didn’t study agriculture, but has plenty of experience. He worked on his father’s citrus farm in South Texas while growing up and has learned a lot in his 30 years of peach production.

“This stuff, you just learn,” he said. “I used to ask people questions. Now they ask us.”

Russ and Lori Studebaker outside their peach stand near Fredericksburg.

There are 14 peach growers listed by the Hill Country Fruit Council. And while each operation is struggling against the weather, they’re fortunately not battling each other.

“We compete with ourselves,” Studebaker said. “That’s all we worry about. We want to grow the best fruit.”

Each grower runs their operations differently. And, each grower recognizes the difficulties of the business and wants to help the industry thrive.

“I’ve always felt anything that I could do to support other growers or work with other growers, I definitely want to do,” said Dianne Eckhardt, of Eckhardt Orchards.

Eckhardt Orchards, located near the center of Fredericksburg, has a large supply of fresh produce and local foods. Along with their many peach products, they sell melons, goat cheese, ice cream and more. Many of their goods come from partnerships with other local businesses and Eckhardt is very grateful for community support.

“Our local patrons and customers sustain us,” she said. “They know peaches. They come and visit us multiple times each week.”

She encouraged people to head up to the Hill Country and said the peaches are sweet, high-quality and can sit out for a while without going bad.

Eckhardt’s is one of the oldest orchards in the area, with origins dating back to the 1920s. Over the years, it’s been passed through generations.

Eckhardt says they have about 6-8 workers at any time, and that picking small peaches requires more labor.

“The last several years we’ve been working to put any new trees that we plant on drip irrigation,” she said. “And I cannot tell you the relief I’ve had this year, knowing that the trees are actually getting a little bit of moisture. It certainly does not replace rainfall.”

They keep up with new developments in agricultural research as well. And they’ve got to adapt, too, including by planting different varieties that will resist changing temperatures.

“We grow about 22 different varieties to kind of diversify that risk a little bit,” she said.

Eckhardt Orchards is one of the oldest peach growers in the Texas Hill Country.

Katelyn Eames helps to run another multi-generational farm, at Burg’s Corner.

“My dad’s in his 70s. And (this is the) first year he’s been concerned about his trees dying,” Eames said about this season.

She said that the heat has deterred some visitors and they’ve focused on explaining the situation to customers, so they understand why peaches are smaller and coming in later. Eames acknowledges the threats to crops, but is enthusiastic about this year’s produce and the future.

“You have to be optimistic to be a farmer,” she said.

Indeed, growing peaches requires a certain character.

“It’s not the most glamorous job,” Eckhardt said. “It’s a very rewarding job, but it takes a special person that enjoys that solitude of working every day on a farm.”

“It’s seven days a week, 12 to 15 hours per day to get everything done,” she added.

The Studebakers have instilled this work ethic into their three sons, who aren’t currently farming, but have applied these lessons to their lives.

“You have to be smart enough to do it, but not smart enough to quit,” Studebaker said.

“They learn that no matter how hard you work, you can lose it all,” he continued. “That’s the one thing you learn from this is perseverance.”

There’s nothing like a fresh peach in the summertime. You could take your chances getting handsy with the selection from H-E-B, Whole Foods, or otherwise, or you could go straight to the source at Neal’s Berry Farm.

Located at 21104 Binford Road in Waller outside Houston, Neal’s Berry Farm is a seasonal farm open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Depending on the season, the farm grows thornless blackberries, peaches, figs, Muscadine grapes, nectarines and vegetables.

From now until the end of August, Neal’s invites visitors to pick their own fruit and explore their bountiful supply of produce. Admission to the farm is priced at $3. If picking your own fruit and/or vegetables, you must arrive before 12:30 pm. From there, prices vary on what you pick – $5.50 per pound of peaches.

Furthermore, visitors can pick from vegetables ($2.50 per pound), zinnias ($3 for all you can fit in house solo cup), and sunflowers ($1 per stem).

The farm is open from 7:30 am to 1 pm. Neal’s highly encourages those to check its Facebook updates before visiting. When picking, visitors must arrive at least 30 minutes before closing. No pets are permitted.

If peaches aren’t your preferred produce, you can peruse our roundup of 10 strawberry, blueberry, and other fruit fields to pick from in the Houston area.

Furthermore, you can wade into a sea of sunflowers this season at P-6 Farms. Recently, the farm in Montgomery has opened their gorgeous field to the public with sunflowers as far as the eye can see! Alternatively, you wander out to Chappell Hill outside of Houston to explore a luscious lavender field.