All Over Albany

Pick your own strawberry season 2013

Strawberry season in the greater Capital Region is starting! Many local pick-your-own farms are now open for the season, or will be very soon.

The recent weather hasn't done the farms any favors. We get the impression the hot/then cold/then hot/then dreary and very wet weather has held many strawberry crops back a bit. But it sounds like a few warm, sunny days should have the berries back on track. (And, as you might expect, fields are very wet right now -- so prepare accordingly.)

A typical strawberry season in this area usually only lasts a few weeks -- so don't wait too long.

Here are a handful of places in the greater Capital Region that you can pick your own strawberries. Know of a good place not on this list? Please share!

Important: You should call ahead the day you're heading out to get the conditions.

Albany County

Altamont Orchards
6654 Dunnsville Road Altamont, NY 12009 (map)
(518) 861-6515
Pick your own starts June 11.
Monday-Friday 8 am-12:30 pm | Saturday and Sunday 8 am-3 pm
PYO strawberries are $2.25/pound.
From the website: "Picking should improve by Mid June."

Indian Ladder Farms
342 Altamont Rd, Altamont, NY (map)
(866) 640-7425
From the website: "We will not be harvesting strawberries this year as we are in the process of replanting our fields." Pick your own will start with raspberries in early July.

Columbia County

Samascott Orchards
5 Sunset Ave, Kinderhook, NY (map)
(518) 758-7224
Pick your own starts June 13.
Monday-Sunday 8 am-6 pm
(And after frost killed last year's cherry harvest, Samascott expects to have cherries this year in July.)

Thompson-Finch Farm
750 Wiltsie Bridge Rd, Ancram, NY (map)
(518) 329-7578
Monday-Sunday 8 am-5 pm
PYO strawberry season has started, but "great picking" is just ahead.

Thompson-Finch is a certified organic farm.

Rensselaer County

The Berry Patch
15589 NY 22, Stephentown, NY (map)
(518) 733-1234
From the website: "We expect strawberry season to start sometime between June 15 and 22." (Strawberries are already for sale in the farm store.)

Swartz Farm
1581 Eleanor Drive, Castleton, NY (map)
(518) 858-1174
Hoping to open by this weekend (June 15). A post on their Facebook page indicates the cool weather has held back their crop -- they have plants "loaded with beautiful berries that are just waiting for a good long stretch of sunny days to help them ripen up."

Best Berry Farm
1078 Best Road, East Greenbush, NY (map)
(518) 286-0607
Opening June 12, 8 am-noon. The answering machine message says the field is wet, so if you can bring container other than cardboard, it's probably a good idea.

Saratoga County

Bowman Orchards
141 Sugar Hill Rd, Rexford, NY (map)
(518) 371-2042
Pick your own opens June 12.
Monday-Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 12-5
There's a $2/person pick your own entrance fee, and strawberries are $2.89 per pound. You can bring your own containers (make sure to have them weighed when you get there) -- or you can buy them for $1 or $1.50 (depending on size).

Ariel's Farm
194 Northern Pines Road Wilton, NY 12831 (map)
(518) 584-2189
PYO strawberry season opens June 12. The message didn't include hours (they were open 9 am-6 pm last season). Baskets and trays are available, and you can also bring your own.

Schenectady County

Buhrmaster Farm
180 Saratoga Road Route 50, Glenville, NY (map)
(518) 399-5931
Monday-Friday 9 am-6:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday 9 am-6 pm
Strawberry season has started and they're available from the farm stand. Buhrmaster didn't have PYO strawberries last year because of field damage from Irene. When we called June 12, they hadn't decided yet if it would be happening this year -- the up and down weather had made things look "iffy." The person we talked with said they should know in the next week or two.

Horstman Farm
7 Swaggertown Rd. Scotia, NY 12302 (map)
(518) 374-7728
No answer on the machine when we checked June 11, but they had PYO strawberries last year.

Schoharie County

Bohringer's Fruit Farm
3992 State Route 30, Middleburgh, NY (map)
(518) 827-5783
Every day 8 am-5 pm
PYO strawberries could start "very very soon."

Washington County

Hand Melon Farm
533 Wilbur Avenue, Greenwich, NY -- between Schuylerville and Greenwich (map)
(518) 692-2376
Monday-Friday 8 am-6 pm, Saturday and Sunday 8 am-4 pm
PYO strawberry season has started, though the peak of the season is probably another week or two away. Bring your own containers, or use theirs.
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Earlier and elsewhere:
+ Katie has a few berry picking tips.
+ And Sandra has a collected a big list of pick-you-own places, not just strawberries.