Summer is short and so sweet in Minnesota (ok, Wisconsin too)! Let’s savor each day with plenty of outside time, fun new experiences, family time and play… for us this mean plenty of farm visits!

I’ve got quite the line-up for you guys! I’ve gathered my favorite farm visits that are also family friendly. These farms will get you feeling one with nature, closer to your roots, and eating farm to table to boot.

These are the real deal. Real crops, real animals, real history, real fun. Grab the sunscreen, pack the picnic basket and buckle up!

Bruentrup Heritage Farm

Dairy Day Ice Cream Social June 17 FREE
Locally made ice cream at a farm, nuff said.

Farm to Table Summer Camp: August 5-8
Camp for kids entering 2^nd-5^th grade that brings them through the Farm to Table process of milk to butter, cheese and ice cream- and making their own bread from farm fresh ingredients! More info HERE.

Bruentrup Heritage Farm is nestled between Maplewood and White Bear Lake and comes with the idyllic big red barn and front porch. Run by the Maplewood Area Historical Society, this is a community hub of family fun activities. The Bruentrup family donated their farm to the society in 1999 and the community has been in love with it ever since. This is also an amazing spot for weddings if you know anyone who’s looking Their Facebook page is the place to follow for event updates and announcements.

Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center

Apple Festival October 12 & 13

The annual highlight of this little gem of a non-profit nature center is their Apple Fest! Good old down-home fun where kids can pick heirloom varieties of organic apples, get dirty and play in the hay bales- they’ll have to run off all that cider and apple crisp somehow…

The Carpernter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is the best kept secret on the river. They have both MN and WI campuses and miles of glorious trails overlooking the river that divides them. The apple orchard is magical, and be sure to check out the old farm house off of the north loop trail! They hold some sweet Summer Camps, a good selection still have availability, check out the variety of options HERE.

Co-op Farm Tour

July 13th FREE

Mark your calendars for the ‘Eat Local’ Co-op Farm Tour. This event lets you tour some of the best local farms in the (extended) area. There are a record high 26 farmers participating this summer! Farms include Beef, Dairy, Fish, Flower, Honey, Hops and good old Vegetables. This is kind of the grand-daddy of all farm visits!

Pack a picnic, bring lots of ice cold water and an extra cooler for all the (REALLY) farm fresh food you can find that day! It’s a great way for kids and adults alike to see first-hand where the food they eat starts out. The farms that participate usually have something to entice the little ones out- check each farm’s page link for more info.

Gibbs Farm  

General Admissions: $8 adults, $7 seniors 62+, $5 children 4-16

Ice Cream Sunday: Every other Sunday, June 16^th to August 25^th
Make your own sundae and enjoy fresh local dairy!

Prairie Festival: August 3^rd included in General Admissions.
Celebrating the Dakota people and foodways, past and present with stations to learn about the seasonal ways like wild ricing.

This is the little farm that could. This well loved historical farm is tucked into the east side of the cities along the edge of U of MN Ag land. Costumed staff provide a glimpse into nineteenth century Pioneer and Dakota daily life.

There are both original and replica buildings, including and one-room schoolhouse (my kids favorite) a log-and-sod home, plus the original Gibbs farmhouse and barn. What sets this place apart is the inclusion of a Dakota summer bark lodge, and a tipi and their almost equal representation of Indigenous history along with European settler history.

The historical tours are led by knowledgeable costumed interpreters open most weekends in summer. Pioneer Tours at 10:30am, 12:30pm and 2:30pm. Dakota Tours are 11:30am and 1:30pm.

MN Food Association: Big River Farms

Small Scale Composting with Worms: June 22, 10-12

Growing Oyster Mushrooms: June 29, 10-12

All About Monarchs: July 27, 10-12

The staff at Big River Farms provide farmer education and technical assistance in all things sustainable farming. This summer they are doing a few new classes lead by their farmers in training; organic weed management, composting with worms, planting for monarchs and growing your own mushrooms.

The classes are probably more adult friendly than family friendly, but they made it on my list anyway. An adult could go to the class and the rest of the crew could wander and enjoy the beautiful farmland, or is worm composting a perfect start to a romantic date night… They also go above and beyond welcoming families during the Co-op Farm Tour.

Oliver Kelley Farm

Admission: $12 for adults, $6 ages 5-17 FREE for 4 and under and MNHS Members

Dairy Days:
June 22 + 23

Poultry Weekend:
July 20 + 21

Pickling Weekend:
August 17 + 18 

This is such a unique experience, and I’m so proud of our MN Historical Society for preserving this one of a-kind-farm for generations to come. Visiting is a way to get up close and personal with farm life from 150 years ago (that’s the 1860’s for anyone else who can’t do math).

The costumed staff are experts in teaching without preaching and making you feel part of the farm. I know that sounds corny, but go see for yourself. There’s always some in-season farm task, skill/job to be done and everyone gets to pitch in. It’s a real working farm, so visitors can meet the animals in the barn, help work in the fields and gardens, and see what’s cooking in the farmhouse.

The Oliver Kelley Farm is a National Historic Landmark which became a way more family friendly farm visit after opening their new visitor center! The addition of a farm lab to the site takes it above and beyond. Yes, I’m gushing but this is one of my happy places! My kids love the BIG oxen, and all the barn cats, and pumping water from the well to water veggies.

Tamarack Nature Center

Meet the Gardener: Mondays 10:15-11

OK, this one is more garden than farm, but it’s a comprehensive garden laid out in a way that gives you solid ideas you can take home and make your own. And since my real motive is actually to get you growing more of your own food this fits perfectly

Plus this Ramsey County Nature Center boasts the Discovery Hollow Nature Play Area. It doesn’t get much more family friendly than helping plant in a community garden and then wiggle your bare toes in a stream before hiking to the perfect picnic spot. They rotate topics for “Drop in Discoveries” on Saturdays. I’m super excited for the ‘Meet the Bees/Garden Party’ drop in sessions, on June 22, July 27 and August 24. Tamarack also holds a slew of the most desired summer camps in the metro area. A few spots remain.

White Pine Berry Farm

Strawberry Shortcake Social: June 29

A PYO farm run by The Zwald family, White Pine is a newbie on our list this year because of their Organic Certification! The name sells them a little short, as they also grow; asparagus, beans, ginger, (!!!) plums, tumeric, tomatoes and watermelon, yes my mouth is watering…isn’t yours!?!

They’ve got some fun events planned for this season with “A Day in the Country later this Fall. Check them out as part of the Co-op Farm Tour on July 13^th. Follow their Facebook Page to stay in the loop.

Honorable Mentions

These family adventures are too good to miss! While not technically farm visits, they tie in gardening, local food and getting back to Nature. I just had to mention them…

Blueberry Fields of Stillwater – Organic P-Y-O blueberry farm from heaven. I love them so much I did a story on them last summer!

Borner Farm Project: (delicious) Pizza Nights with a chill vibe on a mostly volunteer run farm in the middle of Prescott WI. Boom!

PolliNation Festival– August 25th The most fun you can have helping save the bees!

So, the only question now is which farm will you visit first?

If you happen to have a farm you love to visit, I’d Love to hear about it- as you can tell I’m a little obsessed with farm fresh!

Looking forward to digging into Summer!

Michelle

The post Family Friendly Farm Visits appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Pick Your Own Blueberry Farms are becoming more popular and for good reason!

PYO Farms bring together the best of summer- getting to spend time in the great outdoors in a beautiful setting, with friends + family, all working towards a tasty end goal; buckets full of blueberries! This is local food bliss. Blueberry Fields of Stillwater brings a sweet mixture of this bliss to their guests each year.

**Updated article 7/10/25**

Summer took over Blueberry Fields of Stillwater in early 2022, and she is just as in love with the farm, connections to the earth, blueberries and customers as the previous owners. 

Blueberry Fields of Stillwater

As Summer explains, “I was looking to make a change and for a place where I could be more in tune with nature, while still being part of the community.  When I saw the Blueberry Fields of Stillwater property, I just knew it was where I needed to be.  The love, care, and hard work that Bev and Mike O’Connor put into the Blueberry Fields was evident; the land just sang to me.  I am so grateful that they were willing to let me carry on what they had started. They have been so helpful and supportive to me in teaching me the craft of blueberry growing hands on here at the Blueberry Fields of Stillwater.”

Same great blueberries, same ORGANIC farming practices, new smiling face. I’m in!

Is it the farm’s rolling hills and pastoral setting? Or the acres of immaculately maintained spacious rows all bursting with blueberries? Maybe it’s all the energy and love that farmers have poured into the land?

If you’ve never picked your own blueberries before no worries, they’re every bit as easy as strawberries and raspberries. You can just roll them between your fingers and the ripe ones will pretty much fall off. You can easily tell the ripe from unripe berries.

The farm has two acres of blueberries now in the seventh year of organic production. There are seven varieties to give us all a wonderful selection and extended picking season. From the first sun-sweetened Polaris berries to the late-season Superior berries, they have it planned out so you get to come and pick at your leisure. You can always check their website or phone line (651-351-0492) for the latest picking updates.

Slow Food Movement

Picking different kinds of berries offers different kinds of experiences. Blueberry picking is not as fast paced as strawberry picking. The berries are smaller, but the bushes bigger, so you can set down a stool and just loose yourself in picking. “Something just happens in these fields when they’ve got a few groups picking, voices can carry and conversations continue over rows. We also get quite a few couples on dates. Everyone slows down a bit while they’re here. That’s our hope, that this is a beautiful place to pick the best blueberries- but also that you leave a little refreshed.”

Building a Pick Your Own Blueberry Farm

Even when they are busiest on weekends during their 4 +week PYO season, there is a feeling of calm. Usually there are three ‘picking’ times on each bush. The first are usually the biggest berries, and mildly sweet. The second round produces delicious sweet berries. The third produces smaller berries but usually the sweetest. Each year is a little different though,  Mother Nature’s way of reminding us she’s still in charge!

Bev, the original blueberry farm owner, took the time to work on the soil. Increasing from 1% organic matter when they started testing in 2005 and increased it to 5% in 2018 (Most MN Soil is around 2% organic matter so this is kind of a big deal!). That organic matter helps maintain moisture, feed the plants and helps the bushes fight infections. I also think it helps these berries burst with a flavor unique to this location.

Local Food Flavor

Isn’t that why we love Pick Your Own Farms? To be able to taste the difference in these locally grown fruits verses the store bought varieties (shipped from as far as Chile in the winter and California/Florida, Maine/Michigan as the summer progresses). And one thing I’ll suggest; pick as much as you can! Blueberries freeze VERY well- just roll in a towel to get any stubborn stems off and freeze on a sheet pan, then pop into a freezer bag.

They smell amazing in the middle of winter, opening a bag of frozen berries in February brings you right back to that sunny day you picked them. I’ve opened bags of organic frozen blueberries from Costco in February and they don’t smell.  At All. I ran out of the berries we picked last summer way back in November. I am not letting that happen again!

What About Growing Your Own?

I love our couple of blueberry bushes (and the few handfuls of tasty berries we harvest from them) growing in our home garden. But they look nothing like the full, glossy leaved, ‘dripping with berries’ bushes at this farm! Blueberry Fields shares links to their favorite growing practice websites right on their website. These folks are truly passionate about blueberries, and want spread the love.

I also have two small Aronia Berry plants, another native Super Food berry. Read more about these berries and their amazing properties HERE. I love that berry bushes are a perennial form of food in my yard.

When you’re looking down over the immaculate rows of bushes at a blueberry farm you can’t help but notice all the netting! This is another reason to leave mass blueberry production to the pros. This labor-intensive practice keeps the birds out, and also why you pick only where they have lifted the netting off.

Blueberries in/on Your Bucket List

Me and my boys visited for the first time in 2017 and knew this was a place we’d be returning to. Sure enough it stays on my boys’ Summer Bucket List too. I can’t wait to get back there with them and pick all morning. Now that I know they’ve got a handwashing station and a ‘berry washing’ station, we can plan to stay a while and enjoy the ‘fruits of our labors’ (ha) under one of their well thought out shaded rest areas, the breezy top of the hill overlooking the fields would be my pick!

Did you know you can search for “Pick Your Own Blueberry Farm” on  the Minnesota Grown website? It shows 31 Blueberry PYO Farms in the state. We’re lucky that one of the very few to be growing with organic practices is also the closest to us! They’re even working on using essential oils in place of pesticides with a grant from the MN Dept. of Agriculture AGRI Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant. Just another way these farmers are staying true to their mission of creating a healthy, refreshing experience.

Berry Nutritious

Blueberries are packed full of antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals, are low in calories and have many other health benefits. Nothing quite like picking a nutritious snack right off the bush! They also taste amazing. Especially when you can eat a few sun-warmed berries sitting in the shade overlooking the beautiful fields.

Know before you go:

• There’s a discount for paying with cash or check
• Picking buckets and boxes provided
• Bring water, sunscreen and bug spray
• No pesticides are used so there may be bees in the field

• Kids are welcome, please read their Kid Tips
• Handicap Accessible bathroom on site, uneven ground
• Check their website, Facebook page or call 651-351-0492 for up to date picking info
• Earlier is better, it gets warm out there!

Blueberry Fields of Stillwater- 9450 Mendel Road Stillwater, MN 55082

I can’t wait to get back and pick buckets of blueberries at the Blueberry Farm this summer, and this time I’ll be more prepared. I hope you will be too. If you’re too far from Blueberry Fields of Stillwater to make it out there, I still want you to find a place to pick your own, closer to your home. The Minnesota Grown website can help you find your closest berry patch. Type in “Blueberries” in the product search bar.

Many people’s favorite way to eat them is warm from the sun, or just thawing after coming out of the freezer. I agree with both. I also see a blueberry cobbler in my near future! What will you make with yours?

ps- Don’t forget to pick enough to last the long haul through winter…

Dig Into Blueberry season!
Michelle

The post Organic ‘Pick Your Own’ Blueberry Farm appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.