Summer Berry Picking

Every summer for the last few years I go berry picking at the local U-pick farms around Vancouver. I started this tradition with a good friend, and each year we plan out multiple weekends and farms to visit based on when each of the berries were in season, picking strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries throughout the summer.

 I have many reasons for wanting to go berry picking. For one, it is way more budget friendly compared to buying frozen berries throughout the year, and this way I fill my freezer full of fresh berries to enjoy all year for a fraction of the cost.

Another reason for me is less packaging. Every year I reuse the same white plastic buckets from the farm and freeze all the berries in reusable glass containers. Therefore, skipping the plastic bags frozen berries usually come in.

 Of course, there is the fact that the fruit is pretty much as local as you can get. Instead of buying berries that are being imported from across the country, or even from other countries, usually from the U.S. or from Mexico, these are coming within one hour’s drive. Therefore, reducing carbon emissions associated with transporting berries in a cooled truck or plane.

Lastly, I love supporting my local farmers directly. It is good to know when your food comes from, and I know that I am paying a farmer directly compared to them getting a fraction of the price from retail stores.

I have learned over the years that my favourite berry for smoothies is raspberries, and that I usually only use frozen blueberries for crumbles, and honestly, I don’t really enjoy frozen strawberries. Over the years I have honed in on how much of each berry type I typically go through. I pick fresh strawberries for eating fresh that week, I get one bucket of blueberries, and two full buckets of raspberries which hold me over until the next summer.

I don’t have a deep freezer in my apartment, and my berries take up about 1/3 of my freezer space in my standard sized top freezer.