It's All About a Good Recipe: Blueberry and Blackberry Picking in East Texas!

Oh how I love to pick Blackberries and Blueberries! I love all fruit but there is something about picking them that just makes me smile! It's so addicting to me, it's hard for me to stop picking! They are just gorgeous in color and you get such a great feeling filling up those baskets! When I was young we had wild blackberries back behind our house in East Texas, we would go out and pick them (watching for snakes) and my mom would make a blackberry cobbler!

For years (over 10 yrs) I would go to a place in Tyler, Texas called Plantation Farms http://www.plantationpinesfarms.com/ to pick blackberries and blueberries (they don't have those now). Several years ago I called to find out when the berries would be ready and they told me they still had a few weeks to ripen. So I check the internet and found Blueberry Hill's Farm in Edom, Texas http://www.blueberryhillfarms.com/ . I called and their season happen to open that weekend, so I got my trip planned asked my friend Kari to go and we headed out early one Friday morning! From Dallas it's about an hour and 15 minutes, 19 miles past Canton, Texas.

Blueberry Hill's Farm is such a quaint place! I have now gone 3 different years and plan to keep going! Their season usually opens in June and closes sometime at the middle or end of July when there are no more berries. I believe their store is open year round.

When you finally get to Edom you drive through this very small downtown with a few quaint diners. I hear they are very good but I haven't gotten to eat at them yet. After you pass downtown you go maybe less than 5 minutes and come upon this red barn, once you see that you are there!

Once you get there you walk into the barn and they have some wooden baskets for you to place your berries in so you pick up one and then they will tell you where it is best to start picking!!

If you are wanting blackberries it's best to get there early early because there aren't as many bushes and they get picked over. Everyday they have some but it all depends on their crop for that season. I looked at their website and they say they are going to have a really good crop this year because of all the rain!!!! Yipee!!!

Another great website http://www.pickyourown.org/ this site lets you pick your State then your area and list different farms where you can pick pretty much anything! I have gone to a few local places by me for vegetables. They list farms by Counties once you get to the State you live in it's amazing to look at what is in your area! From Apples to squash to watermelon!

For the Dallas area folks there is a farm I keep saying every year I am going to go to but haven't yet! They grow strawberries!! It's called Gnismer Farms and right now they show what produce is ready to pick but they don't have the strawberries on there yet here is the link http://www.gnismer.com/ to their website. The farm in in Arlington off Bowen Rd.

Below are some pictures I took last year when we picked Blueberries and Blackberries. I rode down with my friend Madeline and her son Jude. My sister, two nieces and my great nieces and nephews met us there. We had alot of fun but word to the wise.....go early in the morning because if it's after May it gets pretty hot!!

Oh and check out my blueberry muffin recipe because I am telling you it's one of the best recipes I have found! I got the recipe from my friend Adriane and I am so glad she told me about it! I have even just this month made over 20 dozen blueberry muffins and I still say, man that is a good muffin! They freeze well for later too... Makes 30 muffins!

We are here at Blueberry Hill's Farm! Waiting on the rest to get here!

With me are Brianna (my friend Anna's daughter) and Jude, his mom Madeline is here too.

They have a few fun things like this for the kids!

We are listening to what rows of blueberries we should go to first! My sister Tammy is in the orange shirt, my niece Hannah is in the blue then my great niece's and nephews, Hunter, Pheonix and Faith oh and Maverix is in the stroller.