Tag Archives: berry picking

Pick-Your-Own Fruits and Vegetables Farm

There is a growing demand for handmade products in America. The culture is slowly but surely shifting from accepting homogeneous mass products to crafty meticulously handmade items. On top of that American consumers are also willing to spend more money for such products. With the subsequent advent of Etsy an e-commerce site that lets users buy and sell handmade items, and other similar online portals this trend is only moving upward. Not surprisingly, pick-your-own farm is growing equally popular in the U.S. Pick-your-own or you-pick (U-Pick) farm allows you to literally hand pick fresh produce directly from the farmer’s farm. It is as simple as going to a farm thats signed up for this program and hand picking produce you want to buy.

Picking my own vegetables directly from the farm is something I have never done. So, it seemed like an exciting opportunity to get in touch with nature and build that intimate relationship with the food that I would devour. Recently, made a trip to the farm near by and picked 3 pints of raspberry. The first and foremost reason this trend is gaining popularity is the luxury that gives people to hand pick their own fresh produce. Also it significantly reduces the carbon footprint when you cut out the middleman, making it very cost effective for farmers as well as the consumers.

Considering the fact that the farm was about half-an-hour drive – adding the fuel cost plus carbon emission and merely 3 pints of raspberry that I bought. It wasn’t necessarily a very ‘green’ experience for me. Had I bought tons of fresh produce, it would have perfectly fit the bill. Nonetheless, it was still a great experience. If you buy bulk products – this is definitely a great way to save money, reduce carbon footprint, and find fresh produce.

And what do you know! I managed to capture a few moments of my berry picking experience. Here’s the video for some inspiration:

Berry Picking from Shailiza Manandhar on Vimeo.