My first Blueberry U-pick trip in Canada!

My first Blueberry U-Pick trip in Canada!

British Columbia is such a beautiful province, and I’m so happy to call this place my new home. This is my first summer in BC and I have come to realize that if there’s a time you want to visit BC then it must be the summer. It has just about everything for great outdoor escapades; beautiful mountains, scenic lakes and magical rainforests. It’s the best time to be out there enjoying the nature. Of the countless reasons, why I think summers are the best in BC, the one topping the charts these days is the fresh fruit and berry season. I love berries and honestly, who doesn’t! Being able to pick them out yourself is a unique expedition! For those who have lived around BC for a while, berry picking is a common summer activity. While I grew up in the city of Mumbai, the pleasures of plucking/picking fresh fruits from the farms was only limited to the time we visited our native place during summer vacation. Which wasn’t very often for me!

Luckily enough, a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going to a BC Blueberry U-pick trip with a group of bloggers at @Emma Lea Farms in Delta, BC. It was my first ever Blueberry U-pick trip in BC and I was totally excited about it. A fellow blogger friend was kind enough to give me a ride to the farm. It was a perfect sunny day and my first impression of the farm was, WOW! It looked beautiful. The ice-cream shop serving farm fresh berry ice-creams, an adjoining patio, a big play area for the kids and a farm full of fresh berries was a perfect arrangement for a day picnic. There’s also a farm store where you can buy freshly picked fruits of the day.

Just after a short introduction by the owners of the farm, we started on our berry-picking expedition. They directed us to the blueberry u-pick area and gave us a few tips on how to pick the berries in the most effective and quick fashion, without causing too much waste. On our way to the u-pick area we learnt a few things about the varieties of berries that exist and the different ways in which they’re grown to get the best out of the fruit.

One of the interesting facts that I leant was why most of the berries found at Supermarkets aren’t sweet. Most of the fresh produce in the city of Vancouver comes from different parts of BC or Mexico. To reach the stores while they’re still ripe, the berries are prematurely plucked off the plant and not allowed to ripe on the plant. Having said that, the prematurely plucked berries continue to ripe while they’re being transported to the stores, however they lack the desired level of sweetness which makes them sour. When you go to a farm you only pick the ones that are ripe and has full flavours.

Now you know why you should buy your favourite berries from the local farms or a farmer’s market in the city. There are lots of farmer’s markets in Vancouver during summers, just look for the closest one.

It was lovely to see little kids holding their small pails and enthusiastically trying to pick their berries. They looked so happy and content after filling the pails to their heart’s content. It’s a perfect fun filled summer activity for kids. At this point I quickly made a mental note to bring my nephew Ayaan to a U-pick berry trip when he’ll be visiting me in Vancouver. Something that he would probably never get to do in Mumbai.

It wasn’t difficult to pick the best blueberries as most of the produce was fresh and big. The task would have been easier if I had a small bucket instead of tiffin boxes. A lesson learnt for next time! After almost two hours of my little excursion at the farm I picked enough blueberries that would easily last me for a week or more. The berry prices at the farm were so reasonable that I couldn’t resist the temptation of buying some cherries from the farm shop. I must admit these were the best blueberries and cherries I had this season.

Picking your own berries from the farms is such an authentic BC thing to do and I’m glad I got to do it this summer with this bunch of enthusiastic mom’s and bloggers. I’ve been looking forward to great blueberry recipes shared by these awesome moms on their blogs and the one’s that I’ve already come across are so innovative and unique. Do watch out for my next blog post about 'what I did with the blueberries I picked on this trip'.

The trip ended on a sweet note as we treated ourselves to some delicious berry-flavoured ice-cream at the farm. 

I had a chocolate ice-cream with mixed berries (the berries were buried under the scoop) 

I am already planning my next u-pick trip before the end of the berry season this year!! Have you ever been to a u-pick berry trip yet?? Would love to know your experience. Please share in the comments!

Special thanks to Aziz Dhamani Photography for capturing some of our special moments on this trip!

SOnali for So-Saree Canada