Stop By The Farm

U-Pick Farms And Roadside Stands

From apples to zucchini, North Carolina’s lineup of farm-fresh crops is an edible encyclopedia of produce. Whether you’re looking for just-picked fruit for your cobbler, vegetables for your salad, or fresh eggs and cheese for your Sunday omelette, you’ll find it at one of the state’s hundreds of U-pick farms or roadside stands.

For a feeling of accomplishment to go with your fresh food, find a farm that allows visitors to do their own picking. Most will provide you with pails to put your harvest in and tips for finding your produce at the peak of perfection. Kids love the adventure, and being able to taste something they picked themselves is a great way to learn about the process of growing and harvesting the food they usually only see in a supermarket. For adults, the taste of farm-fresh fruit and veggies and the savings over regular market prices is well worth getting their hands a little dirty.

However, if you’re looking for that just-picked taste without the manual labor, NC also has roadside stands in all across the state. You’ll find fresh fruits and vegetables right off the vine, and you can usually meet a member of the family that grew them. You’ll almost always come away with substantial savings over supermarket prices, and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that the food you’re bringing home is both fresh and local.

For a complete listing of North Carolina’s U-pick farms and roadside stands, you can search the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service’s database by crop or county at http://www.ncfarmfresh.com/farms.asp.

For a list of what produce is available on NC farms and when it’s in season, go to http://www.ncfarmfresh.com/availability.asp.

added: May 27, 2009

updated: April 3, 2012