Blueberry U-Pick Orchards in Northumberland, Columbia County area of Pennsylvania 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.

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Columbia County

• D and F Farms - No pesticides are used, blueberries,
  788 Southern Drive, Catawissa, PA 17820. Phone: 336-689-1488. Email: jjdnc@yahoo.com. Open: Saturdays from 8 am to 12 noon beginning July 9th. Directions: From Catawissa: Take Route 487 towards Knoebels. Located on right just before Southern Columbia High School. From Elysburg: Take Route 487 towards Knoebels. Proceed past Knoebels approximately 1 mile. Located on left just past Southern Columbia High School. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. . . Pick Your Own Blueberries. We do not use pesticides on the crops. Pick Your Own: $2.50 per pound. The ONLY pyo crops offered are Blueberries.

Northumberland County

• Stahl's Plants and Produce - strawberries and blueberries,
  4760 State Route 61, Paxinos, PA 17860. Phone: (570) 648-3952. Email: stahlspp@ptd.net. Open: Business Hours: Monday: 10 am to 6 pm Tuesday: 10 am to 6 pm Wednesday: 10 am to 6 pm Thursday: 10 am to 6 pm Friday: 10am - 6 pm Saturday: closed - closed Sunday: closed - closed Season: May 1st - ? Christmas week Exceptions: Above stated hours are for all season. Directions: located on SR 61 1 mi. N. of the intersection with Rt. 487 and 1 mi. S. of Ghezzi\'s resturant. We are approximately 7 miles from Knoebel\'s Amusement ParkCall for directions. Payment: Cash, only. We are a seasonal roadside farm market and are . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. . . May-June Sat 10-6, also extended hours for strawberry PYO . located on SR 61 1 mi. N. of the intersection with Rt. 487 and 1 mi. S. of Ghezzi's resturant. We are approximately 7 miles from Knoebel's Amusement ParkCall for directions. We are a seasonal roadside farm market and are open seasonally from May through mid-December. We begin our season with our greenhouse grown plants, selling perennials in several different container sizes and maturity levels. As the weather warms we add pansies with pizazz and cold tolerant annuals. By the time we are in full swing we offer a full line of bedding plants including awesome annuals, pleasing perennials, colorful containers, and beautiful baskets. With the arrival of June, strawberries become our main focus. We provide picked berries on the market stand as well as open the field for a UPick experience. No charge for the tasting along the way! We offer 6-8 different varieties, so be sure to try them all. Though the field is open most days it is wise to call ahead to determine the field conditions and berry availability. By mid July much of our own fresh fruits and vegetables become available. We sell sweet cherries, peaches, plums, pears, apricots, and apples from our orchard on Mile Hill in Sunbury. Many common vegetable crops are offered. As fall approaches we offer our fresh sweet cider a local favorite that is sold from mid September until we run out of apples. A visitor writes on June 21, 2013: "I picked strawberries there a few years ago and enjoyed it. I like supporting family business over grocery stores."

Union County

• Bridge Avenue Berries - Certified Organic, blueberries, porta-potties, picnic area you may bring your own food
  62 Bridge Avenue, Allenwood, PA 17810. Phone: (570) 838-2188. Email: bridgeavenueberries@gmail.com. Open: July is the typical season for blueberry picking on our farm; We suggest you check our website or FaceBook page for specific hours; We will be open 7 days a week during our season. Directions: From Route 80 take the exit for route 15 north and travel approximately 4.5 miles to the traffic light at the junction of route 44 and route 15. Turn right at this light and go approximately one quarter mile to our farm on the left. From Williamsport, Pennsylvania travel south on route 15 to the traffic light at the junction of route 44 and route 15. Turn left at the light and go approximately one quarter mile to our farm on the left. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover.
  Bridge Avenue Berries Facebook page. . We are certified organic for all crops! We are a certified organic blueberry farm with 6 acres of blueberry plants for you to pick from. We also sell pre picked blueberries at our farm stand during the season and we take orders for larger quantities at that time as well. We freeze fresh picked blueberries in 3 pound bags and have those for sale after the season for as long as they last. (ADDED: November 12, 2021)

 

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