8 Reasons to Pick Your Own

I have to get to the local farm that allows you to pick your own strawberries. I don't know when I can get there, but my summer will be much sadder without my strawberries that I freeze for daiquiris.

What's so great about picking your own fruits and vegetables from a nearby farm. I'll tell ya.

1. It's cheaper. Way cheaper. I can get pounds of strawberries for about half the price of going into the little market right on the farm and buying them already picked.
2. Zero waste. You can take your own containers to pick in. My kids take beach buckets.
3. You get the freshest, best tasting produce. You can pick food that is perfectly ripe and eat it that day.
4. It's educational. You and your kids (if you have them) can learn things (see my post last year on Lessons Learned in the Strawberry Patch)
5. You'll support small farmers. It's not the big, agribusiness farms that invite locals to come pick. It's the small, family owned farms. They need our support.
6. It's fun.
7. It's good exercise.
8. You can take awesome photos of your family and friends while picking. Really, every year, I get the best pictures. I'm really tempted to post one, but I don't use my kids' faces on my blog.

You can find nearby farms that allow you to pick what's in season at PickYourOwn .org. The site allows you to search by state, and they even have resources out of the U.S.