Blackberry U-Pick Orchards in Northern England in 2024, by county
Below are the PYO orchards and farms for blackberries and other brambles that we know of in this area. Not all areas have blackberries and other brambles 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.
Cumbria
- Park
House Farm - Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, Red Currants, Black currants.
Park House Farm, Heversham, Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7EB. Phone: 01 539 563340. Email: capstick@kencomp.net. Open: 10:00am to 8:00pm, 7 days a week. Directions: We are on the right hand side of the A6, 6½ miles South of Kendal, just before Milnthorpe. Click here for our Facebook page . (UPDATED: July 12, 2015, JBS) -
Rowley's
Raspberries - raspberries,
Blencowe Hall, Blencowe, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DF. Phone: 01 768 898382. Email: info@therowleyestates.com. Directions: In the centre of the Eden valley. Look for our signs! (1) From Penrith take the A686 to Langwathby, turn Left and follow the signs to Little Salkeld, then follow the signs towards Glassonby. (2) From Lazonby, cross the River Eden near Kirkoswald. Take the first right to Glassonby, and follow the signs. Raspberries, PYO and Ready picked. Click here for our Facebook page. Ample car parking. Containers are available. Home made jams and mustards. Great walks nearby along the Eden River between Little Salkeld and Lacy’s Caves down to Daleraven Bridge and through Long Meg and Her Daughters stone circle. (UPDATED: July 12, 2015, JBS) (UPDATED: November 29, 2011)
Durham
-
Lanchester
Fruit, Co. - Soft Fruit, Vegetables, Apple Juice, Geese and Ducks
Durham Road, Lanchester, Durham, DH7 0TQ. Phone: 01207- 528805. Open: 10am to 6pm, 7 days a week from June 20 until September 1. There haven't been any updates in a couple of years, just this news story. -
F W Elgey
- 2024 permanently closed, Apples, blackberries, broad beans, currants (red and black), peas, plums,
potatoes, raspberries (Spring, red), strawberries,
Lowfield Farm, Piercebridge, Darlington, DL2 3SU. Open: UPDATE: August 06, 2024: The owner tells me they are now permanently closed.
Northumberland
- Brocksbushes Fruit Farm - blackberries, strawberries,
Raspberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, Tayberries,
pumpkins, squash, asparagus
Corbridge, Northumberland, NE43 7UB. Phone: 01434 633100. Open: Farm Shop: 9.30 am to 6 pm; Tea Room: 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. Directions: 16m W of Newcastle-upon-Tyne . N side of Styford rndbt - Jn of A68/A69 - 2 miles E of Corbridge. Entry is £1 per person (children under the height restriction are free) and a £1 refundable deposit for each Pick Your Own Basket you take into the picking fields. Whether you pick little and often or fill the freezer, you can select the best quality produce and make savings on buying from the Farm Shop. PYO farm, farm shop includes speciality & locally produced foods, plus soups and gourmet ready meals (fresh & frozen) made on the farm. Tea room with paved terrace opened 1995. Farm shop: Orchard fruits, soft fruits, fresh & frozen vegetables, speciality vegetables, fresh herbs, cheese, dairy produce, free range eggs, farm-produced meat, poultry, fresh fish, locally baked bread, preserves, cakes, pastries, honey, fruit juices. Facilities: Ample parking, children's play area, picnic area, tea room, plants & shrubs for sale, easy access for disabled, toilets, facilities for disabled. Tea room open all year. Home made frozen meals, logs and kindling sticks and garden furniture also available. Typical harvest dates are: Strawberries June - September; Gooseberries June - July; Raspberries July - October; Blackberries July - October; Tayberries July - October; Redcurrants July - August; Blackcurrants July - August; and Plums in September. (UPDATED: May 14, 2019, JBS) -
Oxford Farm - Strawberries, Raspberries, gooseberries, black
currants
Ancroft, Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland, UK. Phone: 01289 387253. Farm selling home baking, preserves made on the premises, gift ware, vegetables. Quality tea-room/bistro. The farm shop has the same selection as the PYO, including specialty sauces, drinks, prepared dishes, fruit pies, cakes, meringues, honey, apple juice, cordials, local ice cream, jams.
Tyne and Wear
Brambleberry Picking Tips, Recipes and Information
If
you are getting ready to pick some brambles, either at a farm or along the roadside, you might want some useful information first! Brambles are both wild and domestic blackberries
as well as similar sprawling berries, which typically includes the various hybrids like Loganberries, Tayberries,
Boysenberries, and raspberries. Brambles typically peak during July, but it can range from early June through October, especially since new everbearing varieties like the American PrimeArk blackberries have been commercialized.
Varieties of Brambleberries, Blackberries, Raspberries and Hybrids
There almost countless variants of brambles. See this page for detailed descriptions of many bramble varieties found at British farms and orchards.
Before you leave to go to the farm:
- Always call before you go to the farm - And when they are in season, a large turnout can pick a field clean before noon, so CALL first!
-
Leave early. On weekends, then fields may be picked clean by NOON!
-
Most growers furnish picking containers designed for Blackberries, but they may charge you for them; be sure to call before you go to see if you need to
bring containers.
If you use your own containers, remember that heaping Blackberries more than 5 inches deep will bruise the lower berries. Plastic dishpans, metal oven pans with 3 inch tall sides and large pots make good containers. I like the plastic storage containers. - Bring something to drink and a few snacks; you'd be surprised how you can work up a thirst and appetite! And don't forget hats and sunscreen for the sun. Bugs usually aren't a problem, but some deet might be good to bring along if it has been rainy.
Tips on How to Pick Bramble berries
- There are two types of brambles to know about: thorny and thornless! Obviously, the thornless are easier to pick, but some people claim the thorny varieties are sweeter. With the thorny plants, you want to reach into the plant in the gaps, so you don't need to touch anything but the berry you're after, avoiding the thorns.
- A ripe blackberry is deep black with a plump, full feel. It will pull free from the plant with only a slight tug. If the berry is red or purple, it's not ripe yet.
- Repeat these operations using both hands until each holds 3 or 4 berries. Unlike strawberries, blackberries are usually pretty tough, I dump mine into the bucket. Repeat the picking process with both hands.
- Don't overfill your containers or try to pack the berries down.
General Picking Tips
Whether you pick brambles or blackberries from your garden or at a Pick-Your-Own farm, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Pick only the berries that are fully black, or a purple. Of course, there are a few varieties that are yellow orange or red when ripe, too. Typically, the should feel firm and plump and readily separate from the plant with a gentle tug. .
- Reach in between the stems to grab for hidden berries ready for harvest. Bend down and look up into the plant and you will find loads of berries that other people missed!
- Avoid placing the picked berries in the sunlight any longer than necessary. It is better to put them in the shade of a tree or shed than in the car trunk or on the car seat. Cool them as soon as possible after picking. Blackberries may be kept fresh in the refrigerator for up to a week, depending upon the initial quality of the berry. After a few days in storage, however, the fruit loses its bright color and fresh flavor and tends to shrivel.
When you get home
-
DON'T
wash the berries until you are ready to use them or freeze them. Washing makes them more prone to spoiling. - Pour them out into shallow pans and remove any mushed, soft or rotting berries
- Put a couple of days supply into the fridge, wash off the others, drain them and freeze them up! (Unless you're going to make jam right away) Blackberries are less perishable than blueberries or strawberries, but refrigerate them as soon as possible after picking. Temperatures between 34 F and 38 F are best, but, be careful not to freeze the blackberries (while they are in the fridge)!
- Even under ideal conditions blackberries will only keep for a week in a refrigerator, so for best flavor and texture, use them as soon as possible after purchase
Blackberry Recipes, Freezing and Jam directions
- How to make Blackberry jam - It is VERY easy - especially with our free Blackberry jam directions - very easy!
- How to make Blackberry jelly
- How to freeze berries
- Blackberry syrup, make and can it!
- Seedless blackberry pie!
- Blackberry Festivals: Where, When and More to Find an Blackberry Festival Near You this year:
Blackberry Facts and Tips
-
Black Raspberries, also
known as "black caps" are a very healthy food; packed with anthocyanins! - The USDA says 1 cup (228 ml) of blackberries has about 62 calories.
- 1 cup of blackberries, not packed down weighs about 140 grams.
- Select plump, firm, fully blackberries. Unripe berries will not ripen once picked.
- Ohio State University's Article Regarding Their Prevention of Cancer
- Oregon Berry Black Raspberry Brochure
- Blackberry tea was said to be a cure for dysentery during the Civil War. During outbreaks of dysentery, temporary truces were declared to allow both Union and Confederate soldiers to "go blackberrying" to forgage for blackberries to ward off the disease.
- Blackberries were enjoyed by the ancient Greeks, who believed them to be a cure for diseases of the mouth and throat, as well as a preventative against many ailments, including gout.
- The blackberry leaf was also used as an early hair dye, having been recommended by Culpeper, the English herbalist, to be boiled in a lye solution in order to "maketh the hair black".
- Guide to blackberry varieties
- Researchers have known for quite some time that berries contain antioxidants which help to fight cancer causing free radicals. A study at the University of Ohio has found that blackberries are the most potent cancer fighting berries of them all, by nearly 40 percent!
- U-pick Blackberry farms typically sell berries by the pound. A quart equals 1 and 1/2 pounds of fresh berries.
- Do the math and be careful not to over-purchase as Blackberries quickly mold when left at room temperature, and only last a couple of days in the refrigerator.
- You can easily freeze berries that you cannot use right away - just wash, cut the hulls off and pop them into a ziplock bag, removing as much air as possible. Those vacuum food sealers REALLY do a good job of this! The berries will keep for many months frozen without air.
- Want to go to a blackberry festival?
See this page for a list!
Other Local Farm Products (Honey, Horses, Milk, Meat, Eggs, Etc.)
(NOT pick-your-own, unless they are also listed above)
Farmshops, Farmer's Markets and Roadside Stands, Etc. (NOT pick-your-own, unless they are also listed above)
Click here for farmshops in this area.
Local Honey Sources:
Meats, Milk and Eggs:
Farm Venues for Weddings, Events, Activities, Parties and Meetings:
Horse Rides and More:
Farm Bed And Breakfasts
Maple Syrup Farms and Sugarworks: