Time to pick blueberries with strawberry season over in Western New York

Clarence Center, N.Y. (WBEN) - Everybody loves a good, fresh strawberry in Western New York, but strawberry picking season has come to a close. As we enter mid-July, it's time for another berry to take the spotlight: The blueberry.

Greg's U-Pick Farm on Lapp Road in the Town of Clarence has almost concluded their first full week of the short blueberry picking season. Although rain may have deterred a few customers from coming out to pick this Monday and Tuesday, there was a strong showing on Wednesday, and many berries left to pick for the next several weeks.

"The blueberry crop looks fantastic. We're so excited," Alicia Spoth of Greg's U-Pick tells WBEN.

"Our pickers have been coming out of the field with beautiful, abundant blueberries. We have wrapped up strawberry season, but we're excited to be into blueberries. And we have a few raspberries for our customers to pick as well. We have been blessed."

Similar to strawberry season, blueberries are only ready to pick for 3-4 weeks, so Spoth encourages families to come on down while it's prime!

And, as mentioned, raspberries are also available for picking - but for a shorter time.

"We have about another week of raspberry picking in the field. We also tried planting raspberries in the high tunnel this year. Ryan Spoth, my brother-in-law, that was a dream of his and they are beautiful, beautiful berries. So we hope to get a couple more weeks out of those as well and then we'll have a crop in the fall," said Spoth.

Strawberry season was good and so is the blueberry season according to Spoth, but with Western New York always throwing curveballs with weather, are the farmers keeping a close eye on any particular crops going forward?

"We're keeping a close eye on our pumpkins. We're keeping a close eye on some of our crops that are in lower ground to make sure there's not standing water in those areas. And we are watching that sweet corn, there's a lot of birds enjoying life over there, so we're watching that crop as well."

Make sure you grab a bucket or a big bowl and pull out your recipe book - the Spoth family will send you home with berries and some ideas on what to do with them.

"We always love to send our customers home with a lot of berries and recommendations," added Spoth. "You can enjoy them all winter long. One thing about blueberries is they freeze super well. And they're delightful in the winter to throw on oatmeal, to throw in yogurt parfaits and to cook with; make muffins, pancakes, all the delicious things that remind us of summer."

What keeps people coming back to pick the berries themselves?

"It's a really simple activity that allows [people] to just take a break, be mindful, relax, and then cook something that they picked. It always tastes better when you grow it or when you pick it," said Spoth. "It's a blessing, to be able to provide families with the opportunity to do that. And we also do that in our CSA program too. Seeing families come out to the farm together and grab their produce and then head home to make something awesome, it's just the best."

Greg's U-Pick Farm, family-owned and operated, have a full farm store and a bakery, where they make fresh doughnuts and pies from the fruit on the farm, Spoth added they are currently making pickles this week.

Check out their website here.