ROAD TRIP – It’s berry-picking season in Montgomery County

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Berry-picking season in Montgomery County typically runs from late April / early May through late June / early August, depending on the specific berry and the year’s weather. The wet weather we’ve had thus far into spring has gone far in getting the berry patches ready for business.

Locally, strawberries are best in May and June, while cherries are typically ripe in June and July. Blueberries and blackberries tend to have a longer season, from June through August. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to pack the loved ones into the family car and head to a local berry patch or farm. Fortunately, the area has a few to choose from.

Blakelock’s Berries – 15761 FM-3083, Grangerland – paul@blakelocksberries.com
http://www.blakelocksberries.com/
Currently, the Blakelock family has nearly fifteen acres with just over four acres under cultivation. Hopefully, they will add a couple more acres of blueberries or loganberries once this harvest season is complete. Throughout their time on the farm, they have tried to minimize their human ‘footprint’ as much as possible by preserving all of the large oak trees, using the existing concrete slabs, and installing drip irrigation to conserve water and minimize fertilizer use. They don’t use pesticides on the farm and, to the extent that they can, pull weeds by hand.

Right now they have three different varieties of thornless blackberries and two varieties of blueberries. They have about an acre each of Ouachita, Natchez, and Arapaho blackberries and about one acre in which Jewel and Emerald blueberries are planted in alternate rows. Though blueberries are generally thought to grow farther north, Jewel and Emerald are southern highbush varieties bred specifically for the southern climate.

According to their official Facebook page, the blueberries are getting ready to ripen and they’re prepping to open their doors any day now. This is a you-pick berry farm, with the season typically running from mid-May to the end of June. All berries cost $4 per pound, and they provide buckets for picking and containers for the ride home.

Family Farms – 11351 County Road 203, Plantersville – 936-894-2766
https://www.familyfarmtexas.com/
Homeschool groups, churches, family get togethers... do something different and visit Family Farm. They have pavilions available to rent, garden tours, fishing, seasonal picking, hayrides, cabin rentals, and even a store where you can purchase honey, soaps, and other home made products.

The farm was established in 1955 as a working dairy farm. In the early ’70s, the dairy business was closed, but the barn and garden remained. By 2012, they added strawberries and officially turned the farm into a ‘pick your own.’ Today, consumers pick their own vegetables and strawberries while enjoying fresh country air and sunshine.

As the farm grew, they added more things, like blackberries, to the farm. They have always used organic growing methods. They recently added a small playground and picnic area. Although growing vegetables and fruit is their main business, they make our own jams, and currently, we also have raw honey available. Folks visiting the farm can purchase these fresh goodies in our farm store.

Neal’s Berry Farm – 21104 Binford Road, Waller – 346-412-5844
https://www.nealsberryfarm.com/
The season opens today for U-Pick thornless blackberries, vegetables and flowers. Main crops are thornless blackberries, peaches, figs, Muscadine grapes, nectarines, sunflowers, zinnias, and vegetables.

From 1986 - 2009, the Neal family owned and operated Neal’s Restaurant in Spring. (It's still there, owned by their former Kitchen Manager, Hector.) The blackberry pies they made there inspired them to grow our own blackberries, and pretty soon they discovered we enjoyed farming more than cooking for the masses.

In 2009, they sold the restaurant, moved further down the food chain, and opened Neal’s Berry Farm on their homestead near the Woodlands. They quickly became popular as a local pick-your-own blackberry farm and farmer’s market offering homegrown vegetables, fruits, herbs, plants, firewood, free-range chickens and eggs, etc.

By 2014, traffic from the new Grand Parkway and the inevitable road construction it spawned killed safe access to the location, so the family loaded up the farm and moved west to the little town of Waller and started over. With this larger farm and different soil type, they are able to grow a greater variety of crops. In 2020, in addition to their existing peach, nectarine, and fig trees, they planted bronze and black muscadine grapes.

Atkinson Farms – 3217 Spring Cypress Rd, Spring – 281-353-3236
https://www.facebook.com/Atkinson4thgeneration
Atkinson Farms has a flower patch, you-pick berry specials, a market, and tons of family fun. Their schedule is wide open depending on what’s been produced and what the weather holds, so be sure to contact them before you head out. This is the closest location to The Woodlands area, so you can rest assured your berries – or other produce – are as fresh as can be by the time you get home.

Finally, be aware that many local berry producers set up shop at The Woodlands Farmers Market at Grogan's Mill Shopping Center every Saturday (weather permitting), in case you want to bring the berries to you instead of going out to pick them yourself.

It's always best to check with individual farms to confirm their specific opening and closing dates, as well as the availability of different berry varieties. Weather can significantly impact the timing and availability of berries, so it's a good idea to check in beforehand – we’ve supplied the contact info above!