Things You'll Need:
- Plastic buckets or other containers (if the farm does not provide them)
-
Step 1
Call ahead and ask if you need to bring your own containers, especially for berries. If so, bring enough buckets, plastic containers or cardboard fruit cartons so each family member has enough, even the youngest. Many farms have their own buckets you can use during the picking or harvesting, but unless a plastic bag is enough for less fragile items, your family will need to figure out how to transport the goodies home.
-
Step 2
Instruct children how to know when the fruit or vegetable is ripe for picking (by color and texture) and how to properly pick the produce. hey should learn not to pick green berries, for example, and to harvest cherries and strawberries by the stem.
-
Step 3
Assign each family member a separate row of bushes, vines or trees, or just let chidren wander. But supervise kids if ladders are involved--for instance, when harvesting cherries. Strawberries make for a great family U pick activity because they lie close to the ground.
-
Step 4
Use your judgment regarding allowing children to eat as they pick, considering whether the farm is organic or "no spray." Snap peas and snow peas can be fun to munch, and of course sweet fruit can be irresistible. But caution them not to eat too much; there is the stomach ache factor, and the pay-the-farm factor (usually by the pound). But U-pick opportunities can be a great deal when your family does the harvesting work.
-
Step 5
Bring cash to pay the farmer, and a canteen of water for clean up. Limit the time so that kids don't get worn out, and you can all go do it again before the season ends.
