SoCal farm day trips ripe for the picking

For all you farmers market junkies, how about a look behind the scenes? Working farms less than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles are open to visitors eager to get picking.

At Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark, Calif., you pull a wagon for depositing fruits and vegetables you pick as you stroll the grounds. The cost is $3 per person during the week or $5 on weekends, plus the price of the produce, which you pay for at the end.

Right now you can expect to see strawberries, different types of lettuce, beets, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower and fava beans. Sweet-pea flowers are also available (Hello. Mother’s Day?). Raspberries and blackberries should be ripe for picking come June.

Starting May 24, 2008, if blueberries are on your mind, head to Underwood’s other farm, in Somis, Calif., where you can browse the goods along the “blueberry trail” and pick your own, priced at $3.25 per pound. The season lasts through mid-July.

There are animal centers at both locations; the Somis farm is home to donkeys, alpacas and pygmy goats.

In Irvine, Calif., Tanaka Family Farms is another top place for strawberries, organically grown. Strawberry tours at the farm are $13 per person; reservations are required for weekdays but not required Saturdays and Sundays. Call ahead, though, for tour times. Not berry fond? Hold out for July then, when the farm will offer watermelon tours.

Contact: Underwood Family Farms; Moorpark (805) 529-3690, Somis (805) 386-4660
Tanaka Family Farms, (714) 968-6588

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: TanakaFarms.com]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 11:00 am by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Eco-Travel, Family & Kids, Gourmet, Los Angeles, Orange County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.