I recently went to Brentwood for cherry-picking and we also stopped by a strawberry farm to pick a few strawberries. I went with my friend Veronica, her husband, Geoff, and their grandson, Tanner. Having an almost-3-year-old with us made it so fun, as we had the ability to see the experience through his eyes. He thought it was the best day!
There are multiple places to pick cherries, but the season is short (mid-May to early June). I recommend googling “u-pick cherries” in Brentwood, then on the day you want to go, visit the website to make sure they are open. As the trees get picked, they have to wait for others to ripen. I also recommend going early. We got there around 10:15 and by the time we were checking out about 90 minutes later, there was a line to get in.
Cherry Time was where we were going to go and they were already picked out, so they sent us to the neighboring orchard they share a parking lot with – Moffatt Cherries. There was another place on Sellers Pomeroy Farm, but with only parking along the roadside, it was a zoo trying to find a place to park.
We saw a Strawberry farm on the way in, and since it didn’t take that long to pick a 10-lb. bag of cherries, we decided to get some strawberries. Once we were done, we went to downtown Brentwood (the old part) and had lunch. Overall, it was a great day that I’d highly recommend. There’s nothing like fresh-picked cherries! I ate a few but saved most to can some boozy cherries for holiday gifts. Hit me up if you want the recipe! There is a map of the various orchards (can pick-up at the orchard) and what they sell in each month, so cherries are not the only thing you can pick (e.g., peaches!).
Thanks to Annetta Tsapouklis from Placer Title Company for sharing this lovely graphic about local Farmer’s Markets! Now that COVID restrictions are lifting and we’re into the best weather of the year, I can’t wait to explore a few of these and get my produce fix! If you can’t go cherry-picking yourself, do the next best thing and attend one of these:
