Echo Springs Blueberry Farm
After we visited Big Chicken Daylily Farm on Father's Day we had planned on heading back home, stopping for lunch along the way. While we were there it was suggested we stop at "The Blueberry Farm". We had never heard about a you pick blueberry farm in East Texas, but since the True Plant Geek's back was still feeling okay and our daughter LOVES blueberries, we hopped back into the car and headed to Echo Springs Blueberry Farm instead of home.
We had pretty cryptic directions (go over the cement bridge, turn onto the main road, then turn onto Farm to Market 607, got about four miles and you will see it) and we didn't have the actual name of the farm. Not that it would matter, we didn't have cell service to look anything up either. After a bit of driving we arrived.
It's a great operation. You can go out into the field and pick as many blueberries as you want (in fact they encourage snacking as you go) and then you weight your bucket and pay based on weight. Maybe they should weight the people too and recoop the cost of all that snacking. We had a lot of these farms where we lived in New York, but I rarely come across one locally. Definitely not blueberries, since the soil in the Metroplex is too alkaline to grow them.
They also had a bakery with lots of samples out as well as lots of jams, jellies, and pickled items. We walked around and snacked a bit in the air conditioning, we were still pretty sweaty from Big Chicken. We ended up buying a blueberry lemon cake mix that we sampled and a box of blueberries already picked.
This was not the day for us to pick berries...we know our limits. It was very hot and very humid. Our toddler doesn't have a very long attention span, nor will she only pick blue blueberries. The Plank Geek's back isn't doing very well. This was not a day to push limits. Instead we snacked, bought our goodies, and made plans to visit again when we would be able to have a good time.
We headed back to the car and went on to get lunch at a local restaurant. Then we decided to make one more stop before heading home. I'll highlight our last stop, Glenda Mae's Daylily Farm in another post.
What a great place & a treat for you to find. We have you-pick berry farms here but we usually just buy the picked berries too. Sounds like you had a full day and it's always best to pace yourselves.
ReplyDeleteOnce you've had a few activities ruined by a toddler laying on the floor throwing a fit, you learn your limits.
DeleteSounds like you had a good time without picking berries on a hot day. You made the best choice. My mouth was watering after seeing all of those berries off and on the stems.
ReplyDeleteThey had some many delicious things for sale there. We plan to come back next year, maybe even ready to pick.
DeleteNever seen tall blueberry bushes, Rebecca. I love blueberry picking but here the bushes are very low and to gather a box of berries your back will hurt. I see you have had a lovely day although hot and humid. And now you can cook blueberry jam!
ReplyDeleteWe've already eaten what we bought! So tasty. Interesting that the bushes are so different. I think the wild blueberries are shorter than the cultivated ones.
DeleteSounds like a tasty day! Now I want blueberry pancakes!
ReplyDeleteMe too. I have a small batch in the freezer waiting for a morning we have pancakes.
DeleteOne of these days I'm going to get to east Texas for blueberry picking time---I remember the ones in Maine being so delicious. It would be wonderful to get something like that in Texas!
ReplyDeleteIt was a really well run place. Totally worth the trip.
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