2024 Scotland Blueberry U-Pick Farms and Orchards

Blueberry U-Pick Orchards in Scotland 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.

Aberdeen City and Shire (Grampian)

Argyll and The Isles

Ayrshire and Arran

Borders

Dumfries and Galloway

Dundee and Angus

• Charleton Fruit Farm - Apples, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, currants (red and black), gooseberries, pears, peas, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, raspberries (red), raspberries (Spring, red), raspberries (Autumn, red), raspberries (yellow), raspberries (Spring, yellow), raspberries (Autumn, yellow), raspberries (black), raspberries (Spring, black), raspberries (Autumn, black), rhubarb, strawberries, tayberries, tomatoes, other vegetables, U-pick and already picked, gift shop, concessions / refreshment stand, ziplines, pedal kart track
  Hillside, Montrose , DD109EW. Phone: 07703110865. Email: Mat@charleton-farm.co.uk. Open: Daily between 10 am and 4 pm. Picking updates: Click here for picking updates. Directions: Just off the A92 one mile north of Montrose. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Debit cards, Visa/MasterCard, AmEx. Click here for our Facebook page. Additional veg grown and sold in store (including white asparagus). Restaurant and take-away, free kids adventure park, shop, holiday rentals, pick your own. Wedding venue opens September 2022. Entrance is free: Strictly no picnics. Free range eggs - see the chickens alongside the farm shop - soft fruit, own preserves and other local foods. They have a Coffee shop with an imaginative menu, including fresh fruit and vegetables from the farm, an indoor and outdoor setting, gift shop local produce and somewhere for the kids to play. April starts with the home grown asparagus followed in June by ready picked strawberries which then leads us to July and August for the pick your own season. (UPDATED: April 27, 2022)

Edinburgh and The Lothians

Fife

• Blacketyside Farm - Strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, cherries, redcurrants and gooseberries
  Blacketyside Farm, Leven, Fife KY8 5PX. Phone: 01333 423034. Mob: 07970130564. Email: blacketysidefarmshop@tiscali.co.uk.  Open: six days a week, from 9 am to 5 pm during the berry season and 10 am to 4 pm at other times. Directions: on the A915 just east of Leven. sHere you can find a host of local produce and gifts , a fresh butchers counter, a florist and our very own tearoom offering scrumptious meals and cakes. For our younger visitors we have a large Fort which hosts an exciting playground, bouncy trampolines and slides. They have over 70 acres of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and cherries, . The introduction of the poly-tunnels has resulted in the soft fruit season being extended to 6 months which ensures consistency and continuity of supply. Potatoes and carrots are grown for our farm shop customers, barley is produced for animal feed and oats are sold to be milled for porridge. Click here for a link to our Facebook page. (UPDATED: 11 July 2020, JBS) (UPDATED: July 10, 2009)
• Pittormie Fruit Farm & Nursery - Raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, tayberries, brambles, gooseberries (both red and green) and loganberries.
  Pittormie Ryholme, Dairsie, Cupar, Fife KY15 4SW. Phone: 01334 870233. Email: info@pittormiefruitfarm.co.uk. Directions: Click here for a map and directions. We also have broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, jams, free range eggs and a nursery with bedding plants, perennials and hanging baskets. Open: Farm shop open 8am - 8pm June to October. "Egg Shed" open October to June. Directions: between Balmullo & Dairsie on the A914. Seasonal crops: Strawberries, Gooseberries (Red and Green), Blackcurrants, Redcurrants, Tayberries, Loganberries, Brambles, Blueberries; Rhubarb, Vegetables, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage. (UPDATED: 11 July 2020, JBS) 

Greater Glasgow, Lanarkshire, The Clyde Valley

Highlands

• Wester Hardmuir - strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, cherries, black, red and white currents, loganberries, tayberries, blackberries and vegetables
  A96, Auldearn, 2 Nairn, IV12 5QG. Phone: 01309 641259. Email: james@hardmuir.com. Directions: click here for directions and a map. Open: 7 days, 8 am to 6 pm from 1st February to 31st December ; PYO: July and Aug from 8.00 am to dusk. They have a large range of soft fruits and vegetables for PYO, plus pre picked apples, plums and cherries. Early and late strawberries. The pick your own season usually begins towards the end of June when the outdoor strawberries and gooseberries begin to ripen. As the season progresses, raspberries, black, red and white currents, logan and tayberries, brambles are also available for pick your own. Later in the season, towards the end of August, our apple and plum orchards are open for pick your own. We are also hoping that our newly planted cherry orchard will produce its first crop this year. To pick your own use our baskets (or bring your own) and we will direct you to the best fields for picking. Then pick your fruit and we will weigh it upon your return to the farm shop and you pay. Since 1987 families have been visiting us to purchase ready picked and pick your own soft fruits. Our Farm Shop is well stocked with a wide range of home grown & local produce including vegetables, potatoes, preserves & home baking. We also supply nearby retail & wholesale businesses.
  

  Crop	Date
  Apples:	Late Aug to late October
  Brambles:	Mid July to mid September
  Blackcurrants:	Mid July to mid August
  Blueberries:	Mid July to late August
  Gooseberries:	Late June to late July
  Plums:	Late August to mid September
  Raspberries:	Late June till late September
  Redcurrants:	Mid July to late August
  Strawberries:	Mid June till late September

  
   (UPDATED: 11 July 2020, JBS) (ADDED: 02 August 2008)

Orkney

Outer Hebrides

Perthshire, Tayside

• Peter Marshall & Co - Raspberries, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, Blackcurrants
  Muirton, Alyth, Blairgowrie, Perthshire PH1 8JF. Phone: 01828 632227. Mobile: 01828 633070. Email: meg@petermarshallfarms.com. Open: Pick your own available by arrangement. Directions: 1 mile west of Alyth, 1 mile off the Blairgowrie/Alyth Road. More Directions: Muirton Farm - The farm is located approximately 15 miles North West of Dundee and 1 mile west of Alyth. To get to the farm by car or on foot, when you get into Alyth proceed along Airlie Street until you locate the Costcutter shop. On the other side of the road, St Ninians Road is to the left just after Costcutters. Continue up St Ninians Road 1 & 1/4mile, out of Alyth, until you reach the top of the hill where the farm is located on your right. Directions to the West Jordanstone Farm: The farm is located approximately 13 miles North West of Dundee and 1 & 1/2 miles south of Alyth on the B954. The No 57 bus from Perth to Dundee via Blairgowrie and Alyth goes past West Jordanstone Farm. Alternatively, the bus from Dundee to Perth via Alyth and Blairgowrie also passes the farm. Approximately 1 mile after Meigle is West Jordanstone Farm. (UPDATED: 11 July 2020, JBS)
• Thomas Thomson Blairgowrie - blueberries
  Balmoral Road, Blairgowrie, Scotland. Email: pickyourown@tthomson.co.uk. Open: email them for details; this may have been a one-off event.
  Melanie and Peter Thomson have had to shut down their 25-hectare blueberry operation due to both the shortage of pickers in Scotland and cheaper imports coming in from Peru and South Africa. The family has been growing berries at West Haugh Farm at Ashgrove Road in Rattray and at another property, Westfield Farm, for more than 100 years, starting out with raspberries and strawberries before diversifying in recent years to blueberries and cherries.
  Donations can be made online at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pickyourown (ADDED: August 19, 2022, JBS)

Ross-Shire

Shetland

Stirling, Loch Lomond, The Trossachs & The Forth Valley

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!