Tag Archives: berry picking

Berry picking, peach picking and more at Carlson Orchards

Posted on by
1

One of the things I’ve been most excited about since moving back to New England is being able have my boys experience all the exciting things each season has to offer. You can pick berries in Florida, but not without a drive, and the experience just doesn’t compare. A dear friend of mine who has been a huge support during this transitional time sent me a gift card last week and told me to use it to do something fun with the boys. So, when a mom friend I grew up with here recommended Carlson’s Orchards I immediately knew where to put the gift card to use.

Carlson Orchards, peach and berry picking

We had the best experience. Not only did they have blueberry, raspberry, peach and apple picking but they also have an amazing tap room with a huge variety of hard ciders, apple cider slushes for the kids, and delicious pizza. It is very kid friendly with an open-air barn style tap room, and an outdoor playing area where the little ones can run wild and play cornhole.

When we first arrived, we saw that we had a choice of picking blueberries, raspberries and peaches. If you plan to go, be sure to check their growing schedule on their website as it tells you what fruits they have available and when. This place is HUGE. The only thing I wish I had done differently was bring a wagon or another adult. With my 21-month-old, and the heat, it was a bit of walk in between the blueberry and the peach farm. Luckily my 7-year-old stepped up and carried the large carton of peaches that we harvested. My youngest ate more berries than we collected, and I don’t think he put a single one in the carton…He was in heaven.

After a good hour of picking and walking around I was looking forward to an adult beverage and the boys were excited to have some pizza. The service was excellent, the kids LOVED the apple cider slushies, and I decided to sample the Pioneers flight which was a lot of fun to drink.

We were told that they often have live music on the weekends as well as different food trucks on the farm too. We left with enough peaches to feed an army, a quart full of berries, happy bellies and full of smiles, minus me wrangling my toddler at the end! When it’s time to go, it’s time to go with an almost 2-year-old. All you mommas out there know what I mean.

We can’t wait to go back and pick apples in a month, and I’m hoping to find another mom friend to come with us!

Black Raspberry, the Narwhal of the Berry Family

Posted on by
2

Is it a Blackberry, Raspberry, or Black Raspberry? Do you know the difference? 

A few weeks ago, we had dear friends visit. Our sons have been buddies since they were 3 and us mommas became great friends through their friendship. We were so excited when they told us they were coming to visit us! The boys were out back exploring, looking for bugs when they ran in to tell us they discovered a berry bush. Berries are my boy’s absolute favorite thing, so berries on a bush in the backyard? Well, it doesn’t get much better than that. I grew up in this house and I remember picking berries next door as a child, but I don’t remember ever having any berry trees in our yard. 

black raspberry or wild raspberry

The boys told us that they thought it was a blackberry and a raspberry bush, and that’s exactly what it looked like. But the blackberries were much smaller than the blackberries you find in the store, and much less harry too. My friend did a little research and it turned out it wasn’t either of those, but a black raspberry. Did you know there was such a thing? In all my 39 years of life I did not know that there was a black raspberry, but that makes more sense out the loveable back raspberry ice-cream.

I started doing some research on our newfound berry bush and it turns out that black raspberries are rather rare and is like the narwhal of the berry world. Wow, that makes me feel like we have quite the little gem in our backyard, lol. They are also sometimes referred to a bear’s eye blackberry, black cap, black cap raspberry, and my favorite scotch cap. The taste is very similar to the French liquor, Chambord.

My son has been loving watching what looks like a raspberry turn to a black raspberry, anxiously waiting each day for this precious fruit to be ready to pick. Sadly, we went out to pick some yesterday and it appeared that an animal beat us to it. I hope there are more to come.

If you’re outside exploring your backyard and come across a berry bush, here’s how to tell if it’s a blackberry or black raspberry. Black berries are larger, have hair, and have a little bit of whole on the bottom. Black raspberries are pretty much identical to raspberries but black! But they taste much sweeter.

If you live in New England, I encourage you to get outside and hunt for these wild bushes. Summer is the season! Happy berry hunting 🙂