Blueberry U-Pick Orchards in Bay, Holmes, Walton and Washington County, Florida mid-Panhandle 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.

Bay County

• Yates Farms - blueberries, muscadine grapes,oranges, other citrus, farm animals
  22246 Tolliver Road, Fountain, FL 32438. Phone: (850) 625-6400. Email: waylonyates@aol.com. Open: U - PICK hours are Friday And Saturday 7am till 6 pm. Directions: From Panama City go north on Highway 231 about 6 miles past Highway 20 turning left onto Scott road then approximately a half mile turn right onto Tolliver Road Then 1 mile to End of road continue straight through gate to Yates farms. For a map to our farm, . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. . . ; Call before you come to be sure crops are fully ripe. Peaches May 1 till June 15 Blueberries June 1 till July 10 Muscadine grapes bronze or black August 1 till October 1 Satsumas Tangerines oranges November 1 till Christmas vegetables late May through June. We also have a you catch or we catch catfish pond , and raise pork too!. (UPDATED: April 22, 2021)

Holmes County

• Tison Blueberries - Blueberries
  1407 North Waukesha Street (Highway 79, North), Bonifay, FL 32425. Phone: 850-547-4696. Open: May through July, Monday to Saturday from 8am to 8pm, Sunday from 1pm to 7pm. Directions: Located north of I-10 on Hwy 79 just past Bonifay. Click here for a map and directions. Tison We are a local family owned and operated Blueberry farm in Bonifay, Florida. We fresh pick our berries daily in season and welcome U-pickers as well! The season is usually from late May to first of July. Sometimes misspelled as Tyson's Blueberry Farm. (UPDATED: June 12, 2012, by a visitor)
  Comments from a visitor on June 12, 2012: "Sweet, large, healthy pick your own. Great prices! June 12, 2012 OWNER operated. Lovely to chat with! Directions were given to us over the phone and they were excellent! The Farm is . Drive thru the small town of Bonifay on Hwy 79. After the town, go past 3 traffic lights. Then 7/10 of a mile down and on the left. There is a white sign with blue letters, which reads "TISONS" . Turn into long driveway."
  Comments from a visitor on July 15, 2010: "I took the kids to pick blue berries today at Tison Blueberry farm! They have nice sweet you pick $10.50/gal or they pick and you buy $20.00/gal. They are super nice people and still have some berries left if anyone needs any. Also thank you for your web page it IS AWESOME!!!!!!! You have answered so many of my questions from A-Z! I am new at canning, freezing, making jams etc, so again thank you! "

Walton County

• Johnny and Barbara Carter Blueberries - Blueberries
  End of Carter Lane, Red Bay, FL . Phone: 850-836-4480. Open: Call for dates, hours and availability. Directions: just south of Red Bay Grocery. Most recently reported prices were: You pick, $15.00gallon \(about 6 lbs.\), We pick, $20.00gallon. This came from an undated news article, If you have recent information , . Click here for a map and directions. . just south of Red Bay Grocery. Most recently reported prices were: You pick, $15.00/gallon (about 6 lbs.), We pick, $20.00/gallon. This came from an undated news article, If you have recent information , please write me!
• Spring Hill Berry Farm - No pesticides are used, blueberries, Concord and muscadine grapes.
  1163 Millard Gainey Road, DeFuniak Springs, FL . Phone: 850-892-0327. Open: permanently closed. Directions: Located just minutes off I-10 in the Florida Pandhandle. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash or check only. . UPDATE for 2021, Google says they are . The season for blueberries are usually from the second week in May to the second week of June; May be delayed or extended based on the weather; Grape season comes from mid-August to September; Call first to make sure they are there. off of Coy Burgess Road on Millard Gainey Road. 2 acres of high bush and rabbit eye varieties of blueberries. No pesticides or chemicals are used. 2017 prices: You pick, $5.00/gallon, we pick, $20.00/gallon. (Pick fresh grapes and blueberries this summer. Spring Hill farms is . Check out our.

Washington County

• Gainer Blueberry Farm - blueberries,
  2876 Orange Hill Road, Chipley, FL 32428. Phone: 850 638-1335. Email: gainerconniedennis@att.net. Open: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 7 am to 7 pm; Sunday from 1 pm to 6 pm; starting June 13,2013; Closed Monday thru Wednesday, . Directions: From Panama City: Hwy.77 N. to Wausau. Turn right At Caution Light on Pioneer Rd and go 7 miles. Turn Right on Orange Hill Rd and go 1 mile. Gainer Blueberries is on your left. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. . Alternate Phone: 850 258-4180. . The season typically starts late May and usually lasts 6 to 8 weeks. AS of April 2015, their website says U-Pick is $10 per gallon. Blueberry Plants for Sale. Payment: cash or checks, but no credit cards. No Pets are allowed in the blueberry field. We have a shaded picnic area and a shaded parking area. A visitor writes on June 27, 2014: "This farm is so customer-oriented and the grounds are well trimmed and tidy. Absolutely loaded with you can stand in one place and practically fill a bucket. The variety of blueberry is marked on the rows so you can choose your preference and pick accordingly. The price for this season is $9.00 a gallon. I weighed a 1 gl. bag when I got home (on kitchen scales) and it is right at 6 lbs. It was a fun morning, the hard part is quitting when there are so many blueberries waiting to be picked!"
  Comments from a visitor on July 03, 2011: Great experience! A family farm with a family experience in mind! We took our two young children and had a hay ride to the blueberries. The blueberries were very abundant and amazing! I highly recommend these nice folks for your blueberry picking and you will be very impressed with their well kept grounds.
  Comments from a visitor on May 30, 2009: "TONS of rows of blueberries. Very peaceful, nice people. The berries were monster huge. The farmer had a tractor trailer and he offered to drive anyone and everyone who came up the hill to the farther orchard. They have a port-o-pottie, so don't worry if you have to go. :) They also have bee hives and honey bees, but I didn't see any signs that they were actually selling the honey. The blueberries are HUGE!!!!!!! $8 a gallon. They provide buckets to pick with and will put them in a bag for you to take home. The lady said they have blueberries general from after Memorial Day through the month
• Muffin's Blueberry Patch - blueberries
  2488 Highway 277, Vernon, FL 32462. Phone: 850-638-3181. Email: hardlaborhilton@bellsouth.net. Open: Monday to Saturday from sun-up to sun-down i. Directions: Six miles Northeast of Vernon, Florida on highway 277 or Nine Miles South of Chipley, Florida on highway 277. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. Alternate Phone: 850-596-2517. . Monday to Saturday from sun-up to sun-down (i.e., daylight hours).
  Comments from a visitor on June 24, 2011: "No frills but we love it. Honor system-has a cash box to put money in. $8 per gallon of . Wagons w/ umbrellas provided."

 

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