2024 Southwest England Blueberry U-Pick Farms and Orchards

Blueberry U-Pick Orchards in Southwest England in 2024, by county

Below are the PYO orchards and farms for blueberries that we know of in this area. Not all areas have blueberries orchards or farms 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.

Avon

Dorset

• Lenctenbury Farm - blueberries, raspberries (red), strawberries, pumpkins
  Soldiers Road Norden, Corfe Castle, BH20 5DU. Phone: 07798743877. Email: office@purbeckfood.co.uk. Open: Every day 10am to 5pm while fruit is in season, usually June to October, daily from 12th October 10:00-17:00 for pumpkin picking in the field plus in the barn there will be ready picked pumpkins, squash and gourds for eating and decorating use.. Click here for current open hours, days and dates. Directions: The farm is just off the A351 between Wareham and Corfe Castle. Turn opposite The Halfway Inn and the gate is 150 metres on the left. Postcode BH20 5DU. We are opposite The Halfway Inn on the A351 between Wareham and Corfe Castle.Payment: Cash, credit cards. Click here for our Facebook page. PYO Pumpkins are priced by the weight and will be 90p per kg (2020 price). There will be sledges available for the children (and adults) to drag their pumpkins from the field back to the barn and these will be disinfected between every use. Please come during the week if you can as it is likely to be busy at weekends. Maximum group size is 6 unless everyone is from the same family and we will be limiting the number of groups in the field at one time so there is the potential that customers will have to wait until there is space to go at busy times (weekends). Parking is available right next to the barn and it is 90 metres walk to the pumpkin field. No dogs allowed in the picking fields. Strawberries are usually in season from late June to August. Raspberries are usually in season during July and August. Blueberries are usually in season from early July until the end of August or early September depending on the weather. (UPDATED: 7 October 2020 JBS)) (UPDATED: August 05, 2015)
• Trehane's Nursery - Blueberries
  Stapehill Road, Hampreston, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 7ND. Phone: 01202-873490. Email: Click here for Trehanes contact page. Directions: Click here for directions to Trehane Nursery. Opening Hours: We are currently open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm. Blueberries usually are available starting in mid July, then for several weeks. For the first time we will have blueberries available under polytunnels for P.Y.O. right from the beginning of the season - so don't let a bit of rain put you off coming. WARNING! Last year huge demand meant that on two occasions during the season we had to close for a couple of days to let the fruit ripen up. So if you are coming any distance we strongly advise phoning in advance (01202 873490) to check that there is plenty of ripe fruit available. Our PYO Plantation is on the same site as the Camellia Nursery. Planted in 1965 it was one of the first UK blueberry plantings. The bushes are grown entirely naturally with no chemical fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides. We do not even have irrigation on the PYO rows which means the bushes have to send out roots searching for water and nutrients. This leads to intense flavoured fruit - rated by a leading supermarket as the finest tasting blueberries they stock all year.

Gloucestershire

• Wotton Farm Shop - blackberries, blueberries, broad beans, currants (red and black), raspberries (red), raspberries (Spring, red), raspberries (Autumn, red), tayberries, already-picked produce (of the pyo crop), snacks and refreshment stand
  Bradley Road, Wotton-under-edge, GL12 7DT. Phone: 01453 521546. Email: info@wottonfarmshop.co.uk. Open: Please see our website for PYO times (typically Daily picking until 4.30pm Monday - Saturday and 3pm Sunday, but check first). Click here for current open hours, days and dates. Directions: From M5 Exit at junction 14. Follow signs for Charfield and Wotton-under-edge. Go through Charfield. When arriving in Wotton turn left at the T-Junction (by Shell garage). Head out of town you will find us on the left hand side the first field out of the town. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Debit cards, Visa/MasterCard. On site farm shop. We took the backache out of strawberry picking a few years ago when we developed our unique tabletop growing system. Because of it’s qualities we only use one strawberry variety ‘Sonata’, which produces large, sweet fruit of the very best quality. When you have finished picking your produce, relax with a drink and a snack at our picnic tables outside the shop, and take in the breathtaking views of the cotswolds. (UPDATED: 05 April 2016, JBS) (ADDED: May 27, 2010)

Somerset

• Exmoor Blueberries - blueberries, already-picked produce (of the pyo crop), picnic area
  Sharcott Farm Exford, Minehead, TA24 7QQ. Phone: 01643 831558. Email: simon@exmoorblueberries.co.uk.Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm to August/September. Directions: Get to Exford (on the A358) and turn right straight after the Post Office. Signs will lead you the rest of the way. Blueberry harvest: August 1 to mid September. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. The harvest is over in a blink of an eye, and the during this time the bushes are heaving, so come and enjoy! Also available: fresh lamb from the farm. (ADDED: 03 April 2016, JBS) (UPDATED: May 30, 2014)  (ADDED: August 17, 2010)

Wiltshire

• Whitehall Garden Centre - asparagus, beans, blackberries, blueberries, broad beans, corn (sweet), currants (red and black), flowers, gooseberries, loganberries, other berries, peaches, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, tayberries, Other fruit or veg
  Nursery farm, Woodborough, Near Pewsey, Wiltshire, SN9 5PF. Phone: 01672 851249. Fax: 01672 851465. Email: enquiries@whitehallgardencentre.co.uk. Open: March through October, Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm Sundays 11am to 5pm See our PYO calendar on our website. Directions: From the Junction 15 on the M4 follow the road to Marlborough then take the A345 to Pewsey. Pass through the village of Oare and about 1/2 mile on you turn right following the brown tourist signs for Woodborough Garden Centre. Follow the brown signs for 3 miles . PYO Daffodils from March through April in In 2019, the daffoldils are available from Saturday 16th February until Sunday 31st March; available daily at £4.99 per bag (2019 price) Maximum of approximately 50 stems. We are a traditional nursery and garden centre with a wide range of plants and trees. We have a lovely coffee shop where all the food is home made. Visit Woodborough - You're sure of a big surprise! Please contact us before coming to pick fruit or daffodils to avoid disappointment. (UPDATED: 04 October 2019, JBS)

 

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!