Blueberry U-Pick Orchards in Southern Minneapolis and southern suburbs, Minnesota in 2024, by county

Below are the U-Pick orchards and farms for blueberries that we know of in this area. Not all areas of any state, nor even every state, have blueberries orchards that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!

Remember to always check with the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go - or call or email them if they don't have a website or Facebook page. Conditions at the farms and crops can change literally overnight, so if you want to avoid a wasted trip out there - check with the farm directly before you go! If I cannot reach them, I DON'T GO!

PLEASE report closed farms, broken links and incorrect info using the "Report Corrections" form below.

New! As inflation remains high, see this page for reliable (tested) brands of generic canning lids at lower costs, and cost-saving measures for getting fruit and vegetables and home canning.
 If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

New! Road tripping and camping is a great way to have a fun, safe and inexpensive family trip. The national and state parks and monuments are open, and campgrounds usually cost between $10 and $40 per night. September to November is the best camping weather.  See our new website Road Tripping and Camping.com for tips, tricks, guides, checklists and info about parks, monuments and other places to visit.

New! We just went live with our latest website, FunFactoryTours.com - As they name implies, you can find a fun factory tour, including chocolate, automobiles, historical forts and sites, famous buildings, Active Federal facilities even fun geology: like fossils and volcanic areas

Dakota County

• Little Hill Berry Farm - CERTIFIED ORGANIC, blueberries, limited strawberries
  4339 320th St. W, Northfield, MN 55057. Phone: 507-301-7183. Email: info@littlehillberryfarm.com. Open: Blueberry picking season is typically from mid- July to mid-August, During picking season we are normally open Thursday and Friday from 8 a. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: cash, check and credit card. . m. to noon, Always check our website or Facebook page, before you come to the farm make sure we are open. We have 4,000 blueberry plants are growing in our soil, with many more to come. We are a pick your own berry farm. We grow them - you pick them! We provide picking containers and boxes to take your berries home in. Supervised Children are welcome! We encourage you to sample the berries while you pick. Upick blueberries start in mid July 8th. Autumn u-pick strawberries usually start the first week of August. We offer certified organic, pick your own blueberries. Pre-picked blueberries are also available for pickup at our farm. We offer certified organic strawberries! We have pre-picked strawberries available for pickup at our farm and we are open for a limited number of days for pick your own strawberries. We are growing late season strawberries, so we estimate our strawberry season will be mid-July through September. is the only certified organic pick your own berry farm in Minnesota. (UPDATED: July 09, 2019, JBS) (ADDED: June 11, 2015, JBS)
• Ripe Radish CSA members only PYO - apples, blueberries, strawberries, honeyberries, cherries, currants, raspberries, gooseberries, Grapes, Pears
  12414 191st Street East, Hastings, MN . Phone: (612) 394-0559. Email: Riperadishfarm@gmail.com. Open: permanently closed. Click here for a map and directions. . . We rolled out a Members-Only, U-pick CSA program in 2022. (CSA is “Community Supported Agriculture. Ours is U-PICK) Families and friends picking their chosen fresh organic food each week was the highlight of the summer! Raspberries are Ripe from mid July- Oct/Nov (until freeze hits). We have both red AND golden varieties. Honeyberries are harvested in late spring or early summer two weeks before strawberries. Gooseberries are plentiful in late June/early July. formerly Sam Kedum Nursery and GardensUPDATE for 2023, A visitor tells me Sam Kedum was sold and reopened as Ripe Radish farm. It's currently a member only farm (CSA).
  Comments from a visitor on July 15, 2021: - I believe that this farm is closed. Sam and his wife retired last winter, from what I've read.
  Comments from a visitor on July 02, 2012: "Very friendly and they have diverse offerings"

Rice County

• Silkey Gardens LLC - Minimizes chemical and pesticide use, apples, blueberries, raspberries (Autumn, yellow), strawberries, U-pick and already picked, porta-potties (UPDATED: September 22, 2023, JBS)
  5561 115th Street East, Northfield, MN 55021. Phone: (507) 645-4158. Email: Paul@SilkeyGardens.com. Open: Strawberry Season Weather permitting PYO hours are: Monday through Saturday 6 am to 1 pm Sundays 8 am to 1 pm PYO hours will vary for Raspberry, Blueberry and Apple season please call, check website or Facebook page. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard. . Alternate Phone: (480) 544-5055. . Strawberries available in June/July Raspberries late June early July Blueberries mid to late July Apple available vary by variety; Zestar late August/early September Others including Honey Crisp available late Sept/October; As always please call for updates;. We minimize use of pesticides and other chemicals. (UPDATED: June 26, 2019)

Washington County

• Blueberry Fields of Stillwater LLC - Certified Organic, blueberries, porta-potties, picnic area you may bring your own food
  9450 Mendel Road North, Stillwater, MN 55082. Phone: (651) 351-0492. Email: bev@blueberryfieldsofstillwater.com. Open: See our website for current hours. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AmEx. . We are certified organic for all crops! Pick your own delicious, Certified Organic blueberries in family friendly, peaceful setting. Please check website/phone line for updates before driving to farm. Hope to see you in July. . Pick your own blueberries in our family friendly setting with picnic areas. Our blueberries are not officially organic this season, but we are following the exact same practices as when we were organically certified. The blueberries are being grown "naturally", and no chemical pesticides or insecticides are ever used at Blueberry Fields of Stillwater. We use composted poultry manure, fish hydrolysates, and mulch, which feed our bushes, soil, and create our delicious blueberries!. (UPDATED: July 02, 2020, JBS)
• Natura Farms - 2024 permanently closed for U-Pick, Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, currants, grapes, melons, tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, other vegetables, herbs and flowers.
  19060 Manning Trail North, Marine on the St. Croix, MN 55047. Phone: 651-433-5850. Email: pmo@chof.net. Open: permanently closed. Click here for a map and directions. . Our PYO program has come to an end. has been evolving for several years. As a result, and given two years of evaluation, we have concluded that continuance of our PYO program no longer fits our current business model and future plans. We do plan to continue to offer our berries and produce at our farm stand on Manning Trail. Watch for posts for dates and times.We thank everyone who has supported through all these years.
  Comments from a visitor on September 02, 2008: "I thought it was great. Everything is organic and fresh. The people that work there are kind and helpful. Not to mention, many of them are volunteers that work towards a local church. The entire organization is just fantastic."
• The Berry Patch - strawberries, raspberries & blueberries
  10456 192nd St N, Forest Lake, MN 55110. Phone: 651-433-3448. Open: daily, June to August, weather & crop permitting. Click here for a map and directions. . Pick-your-own & pre-picked strawberries in June and pick-your-own & pre-picked raspberries & blueberries in July; typically in the third or fourth week of June for strawberry picking, followed in July by raspberry and blueberry harvest. Orders for tree-ripened Michigan peaches and sweet cherries also taken. Forest Lake, MN 55110. Five miles east of Forest Lake on Hwy 97. Turn south on County Road 15 (Manning Trail) for 1 three quarters of a miles, then turn right onto County Road 50. Supervised children welcome. Containers provided. . (UPDATED: June 13, 2020 JBS)

 

Blueberry

Blueberry Picking Tips, Recipes and Information

Blueberries are one of the easiest fruit to prepare and serve. There's no peeling, pitting, coring or cutting. They have few natural pests, (other than birds), so pesticides are generally unnecessary! This year's crop is fantastic (see related news story), thanks both to the weather and to more farms planting more blueberry bushes due to increased consumer demand over the past few years as more studies proclaim the anti-oxidant and other health properties of blueberries.

Click here to find a local Blueberry Festival (usually held between April and July).

If you are looking for information about a similar berry, the saskatoon (also called the June berry or Serviceberry) see this page about saskatoons.

Picking tips:

Select plump, full blueberries with a light gray-blue color. A berry with any hint of red isn't fully ripened.

Ripening AFTER picking?

First, it is key to know that once picked, blueberries will NOT become any sweeter, nor will the flavor improve. The only change that occurs is the color. They will APPEAR to ripen, but it is only a color change, from white to green to rose to red to pale blue to fully blue. So, white and green colored blueberries will not "ripen" after they are picked; while blueberries that have already turned purple, red or blue-ish usually DO change color after they are picked (if they are kept at room temperature to "ripen").

As the blueberries ripen ON THE BUSH, the flavor goes from tastless to bitter to tasteless tart to tart blueberry flavor to sweet blueberry flavor.

Grocery stores sell blueberries that are tart, not sweet because they had them picked unripe by machine so they are very firm and can handled being bumped around in shipping. They may look good, but are not as tasty as those picked when actually ripe.

So, the key is, PICK ONLY RIPE BERRIES!

How to pick blueberries

Since blueberries hang on the bushes in bunches a but like grapes do, the easiest and fastest way to pick them is hold your bucket under them in one hand and with your other hand, cup a ripe bunch and gently rub them with your fingers. The ripe berries will drop into your bucket, while the unripe ones will remain attached to the bush.

When the bushes are at peak, I can easily pick 2 gallons per hour (if I'm not being distracted by the kids and the sun isn't too hot!). A newbie might do 1 gallon per hour.and at the beginning or end of the season it takes more time as the berries are not as plentiful nor concentrated in clusters.

Tips for storing blueberries after harvesting:

• Once picked, don't place the berries, still warm from the sun, in a closed bag or container. Leave the container open so moisture doesn't form in the container.
• Don't wash berries until just before using, to prevent berries from becoming mushy.
• Chill berries soon after picking to increase shelf life. Store your fresh blueberries in the refrigerator as soon as you get them home, without washing them, in a covered bowl or storage container. If refrigerated, fresh-picked blueberries will keep 10 to 14 days.
• Freeze berries in freezer containers without washing to keep the skins from toughening. Place berries one layer deep. Freeze, then pour the frozen berries into freezer containers. Because unwashed blueberries freeze individually, they can be easily poured from containers in desired amounts. Remember both frozen and fresh berries should be rinsed and drained just before serving. Just before using, wash the berries in cold water.

Blueberry Measurements and Conversions

Keep in mind that blueberries vary considerably in density and moisture content, so these ranges are approximates.

• 1 gallon of blueberries weighs about 7.5 lbs or (4 liters of blueberries is about 3.5 kg)

• 1 pint of fresh blueberries weights about 3/4 of a pound. (1 liter of blueberries is about 700 grams)

• 1 pound of fresh blueberries is usually between about 2 and 3 cups of berries.

• It takes about 4 cups (about of blueberries to make a blueberry pie (see this fantastic and easy blueberry pie recipe)

• A normal batch of blueberry preserves, jam or jelly requires 5 pints of berries.

• Blueberries do come in a variety of sizes from small (190-250 berries per cup) to extra large (<90 berries per cup).

Blueberry Recipes, Canning and Freezing Blueberries

Recipes

• The world's best Blueberry pie, recipe and directions and illustrated!
• Blueberry buckle coffee cake: illustrated directions for this great crumb-topping blueberry coffee cake
• Other easy directions to make blueberry desserts: cobblers, etc.

Canning, freezing and other blueberry recipes:

• How to Freeze Blueberries
• How to Can Blueberries
• How to Make Homemade Blueberry Jam
• How to make blueberry jelly
• How to make and can blueberry syrup (it works for strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, too)
• blueberry pie filling to use later,
• blueberry butter

Baking tips

If you have trouble with blueberries settling to the bottom of muffins and blueberry breads, try one or more of these tips:

• Coat them with flour before adding to the batter. Just gently shake the blueberries in a bag (plastic or paper) with 1/2 cup of flour, then dump them mix in a sieve to remove excess flour.
• It may just be that your batter is too thin. try making the batter a little thicker!
• Fill the muffin cups or baking pan up to 1/4 full with batter (which hasn't had blueberries added to it yet); then stir the blueberries into the remaining batter, and continue to fill the muffin cups or bread pan. The blueberries will start off higher in the mix!

Other Local Farm Products (Honey, Horses, Milk, Meat, Eggs, Etc.)
(NOT pick-your-own, unless they are also listed above)

• Farm markets and roadside stands
• Local Honey Finder
• Local Meat, Milk and Eggs
• Venues: Farms, Wineries, Orchards for your event, wedding or party
• Easter egg hunts
• Children"s consignment sales
• Fruit and vegetable festivals
• Winery tours and wine tastings
• Horse rides, stables, lessons, trails
• Maple Syrup farms and sugarworks
• Bed & Breakfasts on Farms, Wineries, Ranches and Orchards
• Pumpkin patches
• Corn mazes
• Zombie Paintball venues
• Christmas Tree Farms & lots
• Environmental resources
• Consumer fraud information
• Wholesale food sources
• Resources for Farmers