Blueberry U-Pick Orchards in El Dorado County, California in 2024, by county

Below are the U-Pick orchards and farms for blueberries that we know of in this area. Not all areas of any state, nor even every state, have blueberries orchards that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!

Remember to always check with the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go - or call or email them if they don't have a website or Facebook page. Conditions at the farms and crops can change literally overnight, so if you want to avoid a wasted trip out there - check with the farm directly before you go! If I cannot reach them, I DON'T GO!

PLEASE report closed farms, broken links and incorrect info using the "Report Corrections" form below.

New! As inflation remains high, see this page for reliable (tested) brands of generic canning lids at lower costs, and cost-saving measures for getting fruit and vegetables and home canning.
 If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

New! Road tripping and camping is a great way to have a fun, safe and inexpensive family trip. The national and state parks and monuments are open, and campgrounds usually cost between $10 and $40 per night. September to November is the best camping weather.  See our new website Road Tripping and Camping.com for tips, tricks, guides, checklists and info about parks, monuments and other places to visit.

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El Dorado County

• American River Cherry Company - Uses natural growing practices, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cherries, figs, lavender, olallieberries, other berries, persimmons, raspberries (red), raspberries (Spring, red), raspberries (Autumn, red), Saskatoons, Honey from hives on the farm, U-pick and already picked, concessions or refreshment stand, porta-potties are available, picnic area you may bring your own food, weddings and wedding parties, group reservations
  2240 Dias Drive, Placerville, CA 95667. Phone: 530-626-3881. Email: info@americanrivercherryco.com. Open: Cherries and Berries May 25 through late June, Figs July 27 through August 31 Persimmons November 10 through December 10, call before you go for figs and persimmons. Directions: Go to Placerville on highway 50. Turn North on highway 49. Follow highway 49 for 3 miles. Turn right at the sign at Tyrell to Dias. Follow the signs up the hill to the ranch site on the left. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Visa, MasterCard.
  American River Cherry Company Facebook page. . Loganberries May 31 Olallieberries May 31 Cuthbert Raspberries May 31 Blueberries (3 varieties) June 1 Chilliwack Raspberries June 5 Siskiyou Blackberries July 8 Boysenberries July 6 Arapaho and Apache Blackberries July 10. We use natural practices, but are not seeking organic certification. The ranch contains a large natural Koi pond with several hundred eager Koi for feeding with the provided Koi food. A nearby one acre lawn with shade is available on which to spread your picnic. (UPDATED: May 06, 2018, JBS)
• Berry Heaven, USA - Uses natural growing practices, apples, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, herbs or spices, lemons, peaches, persimmons, plums, raspberries (red), raspberries (Autumn, red), raspberries (black), summer squash, strawberries, tomatoes, Fresh eggs, porta-potties are available, farm animals, school tours
  5170 Marshall Road, Garden Valley, CA 95633. Phone: 530-457-7181. Email: moonchldt@aol.com. Open: Monday thru Saturday 9am to 6 pm Sunday 1pm to 6pm, June call or see their website for opening date to October 31. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AmEx, WIC Vouchers.
  Berry Heaven, USA Facebook page. . Monday thru Saturday 9am to 6 pm Sunday 1pm to 6pm, June (call or see their website for opening date) to October 31. We use natural practices, but are not seeking organic certification. (UPDATED: May 01, 2018)
• Harris Family Farm - apples, blackberries, blueberries, marionberries, pears, pumpkins, rhubarb, Fresh eggs, picnic area, weddings and wedding parties, school tours
  2640 Blair Road, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Phone: (530) 644-2194. Email: harristreefarm@hotmail.com. Open: Thursday to Sunday, from 9 am to 4:30 pm, June 1 to December 24. Directions: Driving directions: Travel on Highway 50 to Pollock Pines. Turn off at the Pollock Pines exit #57, turn left under the freeway. Turn right on Pony Express Trail, about one mile turn left on Blair Road. Travel one mile on Blair Road, the entrance is on the left. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover.
  Harris Family Farm Facebook page. . Picking updates: Click here for picking updates. Pies & Turnovers, Jam & Preserves. You pick blackberries beginning in July. Camp on our farm in the forest or Christmas trees. (ADDED: April 05, 2017)
• Once in a Blue Moon Berries - Certified organic, blueberries,
  1820 Arroyo Vista Way, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762. Phone: (916) 600-8962. Open: typically starting in July, see their Facebook page. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. - U pick Blueberry Farm, Family friendly ; ) We supply the buckets and teach you how to pick ! You pick your own -Fresh- Organically grown blueberries !! 2022 was the first annual Blueberry Festival, it was held on July 4 and July 5 from 8 am to 1 pm, enjoy and admire great blueberry products by 15+ vendors. Presumably, they will hold it again.
• Pine'O'Mine - Uses integrated pest management practices, apples, blueberries, pumpkins, raspberries (Autumn, red), U-pick and already picked, porta-potties are available, picnic area
  2620 Carson Road, Placerville, CA 95667. Phone: 530-344-0288. Email: pineomine@comcast.net. Open: See our facebook page for current hours. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover. Pine'O'Mine . We use integrated pest management practices. is a former Christmas tree farm that is now planted with Blueberries, Raspberries, Apples, and Pumpkins. We wanted to have something for families, so we made our ranch u-pick. Now we have families coming year after year. NOTE: Their website is gone; but their unofficial facebook page shows recent activity. Does anyone have current information, are they still offering pick your own or are even open? If so, please write me. (UPDATED: May 06, 2018, JBS)
• Rainbow Camino Ridge - blueberries, apples
  3010 Snows Road, Camino, CA 95709. Phone: (530) 644-1594. Email: rainboworch@gmail.com. Open: You Pick blueberries on Saturdays and Sundays mid June through mid July and Rainbow Orchards Barn is open for Labor Day weekend and open daily from September 6 through Thanksgiving weekend. Click here for a map and directions.
  Rainbow Camino Ridge Facebook page. . November 30, December 1, December 7, December 8. Starting on Labor Day Weekend, Rainbow Orchards Barn fills up with just-picked fruit. Peaches - limited availability in September. Available beginning in early September - Gala, Red Delicious & Golden Delicious, Granny Smith Apples. Followed by - Fuji, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Rome, Winesap and Arkansas Black Apples On-site Cider Mill presses fresh, unfiltered, all natural, delicious cider blended from the perfect combination of apples. Rainbow Orchards now also offers HARD CIDER brewed from the fresh pressed cider made in the on-site cider mill. Premium Rainbow Wines Available: Cabernet Syrah, Merlot, Syrah, Hard Cider. Call or check Rainbow Orchards facebook, or email for dates & availability of berries. They offer both You Pick or We Pick berries. Varieties include Duke, Chandler, Legacy, Liberty, Blue Crop, Ozark Blue, Elliot, Titan, Toro. berries are also available at Farmers Markets in the Bay Area. Check rainboworchards,net for locations. (ADDED: July 01, 2019, JBS)
• Sun Mountain Farm - Uses integrated pest management practices, apples, blueberries, pumpkins, U-pick and already picked, picnic area
  3000 North Canyon Road, Camino, CA 95709. Phone: 530-621-3740. Email: Fruit@SunMountainFarm.com. Open: Saturday and Sunday, from 9 am to 4 pm; Monday to Friday by appointment. Directions: #28 on the Apple Hill Map. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. Sun Mountain Farm Alternate Phone: 530-919-7879. . Blueberries: June; Apples: September, October, Early November; Pumpkins: October. We offer the finest seasonal "You Pick" apples, blueberries and pumpkins. Wine grapes may be available to home winemakers by arrangement. We use integrated pest management practices. Fish Friendly Farming Environmental Certification.

 

Blueberry

Blueberry Picking Tips, Recipes and Information

Blueberries are one of the easiest fruit to prepare and serve. There's no peeling, pitting, coring or cutting. They have few natural pests, (other than birds), so pesticides are generally unnecessary! This year's crop is fantastic (see related news story), thanks both to the weather and to more farms planting more blueberry bushes due to increased consumer demand over the past few years as more studies proclaim the anti-oxidant and other health properties of blueberries.

Click here to find a local Blueberry Festival (usually held between April and July).

If you are looking for information about a similar berry, the saskatoon (also called the June berry or Serviceberry) see this page about saskatoons.

Picking tips:

Select plump, full blueberries with a light gray-blue color. A berry with any hint of red isn't fully ripened.

Ripening AFTER picking?

First, it is key to know that once picked, blueberries will NOT become any sweeter, nor will the flavor improve. The only change that occurs is the color. They will APPEAR to ripen, but it is only a color change, from white to green to rose to red to pale blue to fully blue. So, white and green colored blueberries will not "ripen" after they are picked; while blueberries that have already turned purple, red or blue-ish usually DO change color after they are picked (if they are kept at room temperature to "ripen").

As the blueberries ripen ON THE BUSH, the flavor goes from tastless to bitter to tasteless tart to tart blueberry flavor to sweet blueberry flavor.

Grocery stores sell blueberries that are tart, not sweet because they had them picked unripe by machine so they are very firm and can handled being bumped around in shipping. They may look good, but are not as tasty as those picked when actually ripe.

So, the key is, PICK ONLY RIPE BERRIES!

How to pick blueberries

Since blueberries hang on the bushes in bunches a but like grapes do, the easiest and fastest way to pick them is hold your bucket under them in one hand and with your other hand, cup a ripe bunch and gently rub them with your fingers. The ripe berries will drop into your bucket, while the unripe ones will remain attached to the bush.

When the bushes are at peak, I can easily pick 2 gallons per hour (if I'm not being distracted by the kids and the sun isn't too hot!). A newbie might do 1 gallon per hour.and at the beginning or end of the season it takes more time as the berries are not as plentiful nor concentrated in clusters.

Tips for storing blueberries after harvesting:

• Once picked, don't place the berries, still warm from the sun, in a closed bag or container. Leave the container open so moisture doesn't form in the container.
• Don't wash berries until just before using, to prevent berries from becoming mushy.
• Chill berries soon after picking to increase shelf life. Store your fresh blueberries in the refrigerator as soon as you get them home, without washing them, in a covered bowl or storage container. If refrigerated, fresh-picked blueberries will keep 10 to 14 days.
• Freeze berries in freezer containers without washing to keep the skins from toughening. Place berries one layer deep. Freeze, then pour the frozen berries into freezer containers. Because unwashed blueberries freeze individually, they can be easily poured from containers in desired amounts. Remember both frozen and fresh berries should be rinsed and drained just before serving. Just before using, wash the berries in cold water.

Blueberry Measurements and Conversions

Keep in mind that blueberries vary considerably in density and moisture content, so these ranges are approximates.

• 1 gallon of blueberries weighs about 7.5 lbs or (4 liters of blueberries is about 3.5 kg)

• 1 pint of fresh blueberries weights about 3/4 of a pound. (1 liter of blueberries is about 700 grams)

• 1 pound of fresh blueberries is usually between about 2 and 3 cups of berries.

• It takes about 4 cups (about of blueberries to make a blueberry pie (see this fantastic and easy blueberry pie recipe)

• A normal batch of blueberry preserves, jam or jelly requires 5 pints of berries.

• Blueberries do come in a variety of sizes from small (190-250 berries per cup) to extra large (<90 berries per cup).

Blueberry Recipes, Canning and Freezing Blueberries

Recipes

• The world's best Blueberry pie, recipe and directions and illustrated!
• Blueberry buckle coffee cake: illustrated directions for this great crumb-topping blueberry coffee cake
• Other easy directions to make blueberry desserts: cobblers, etc.

Canning, freezing and other blueberry recipes:

• How to Freeze Blueberries
• How to Can Blueberries
• How to Make Homemade Blueberry Jam
• How to make blueberry jelly
• How to make and can blueberry syrup (it works for strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, too)
• blueberry pie filling to use later,
• blueberry butter

Baking tips

If you have trouble with blueberries settling to the bottom of muffins and blueberry breads, try one or more of these tips:

• Coat them with flour before adding to the batter. Just gently shake the blueberries in a bag (plastic or paper) with 1/2 cup of flour, then dump them mix in a sieve to remove excess flour.
• It may just be that your batter is too thin. try making the batter a little thicker!
• Fill the muffin cups or baking pan up to 1/4 full with batter (which hasn't had blueberries added to it yet); then stir the blueberries into the remaining batter, and continue to fill the muffin cups or bread pan. The blueberries will start off higher in the mix!

Other Local Farm Products (Honey, Horses, Milk, Meat, Eggs, Etc.)
(NOT pick-your-own, unless they are also listed above)

• Farm markets and roadside stands
• Local Honey Finder
• Local Meat, Milk and Eggs
• Venues: Farms, Wineries, Orchards for your event, wedding or party
• Easter egg hunts
• Children"s consignment sales
• Fruit and vegetable festivals
• Winery tours and wine tastings
• Horse rides, stables, lessons, trails
• Maple Syrup farms and sugarworks
• Bed & Breakfasts on Farms, Wineries, Ranches and Orchards
• Pumpkin patches
• Corn mazes
• Zombie Paintball venues
• Christmas Tree Farms & lots
• Environmental resources
• Consumer fraud information
• Wholesale food sources
• Resources for Farmers