Nestled in the heart of Temecula Wine Country lies the Temecula Berry Co. A family owned and operated blueberry farm with wholesome family values and the freshest blueberries around.
Only open from mid-May to around the 4th of July, the Temecula Berry Company is a 10 acre southern highbush blueberry farm owned and operated by Mike Graesser a dad of two young children.
We have been picking blueberries at the Temecula Berry Co every summer since 2009 – when we purchased our first home and moved to the Inland Empire. It’s one of my favorite summer time activities.
In fact, I love berry picking so much I have written about The Temecula Berry Company before on CBS Los Angeles.
Depending on if we’re going picking with friends or going alone, I pack up for the day accordingly. When we first started going in 2009/2010 I only had one child so we would frequent the farm with our moms group friends.
Now that I have 10,000 children we go weekly by ourselves. It’s a weekly or near-weekly or as often as possible tradition that we do early in the summer mornings before it gets too hot.
For some reason, even though we live just 20 minutes away it is always hotter at the Temecula Blueberry Company farm. I’m not sure if it’s because the farm is tucked in a valley or there isn’t much wind or shade but I always end up sweating. A ton.
The Funny Mom Blog Blueberry Picking Tips:
- Go picking early in the morning or when the sun is about to set. The Temecula Berry Company is open every day from 8am to 6pm.
- Wear a hat and sunscreen. The Inland Empire summer sun is no joke.
- Wear closed toed shoes. This tip is mostly for the kids. My kids love to run around and act a fool in large open public spaces. It’s like they’re kids or something. Anyway, the farm ground is covered with bark and closed toed shoes will keep your toes from being stabbed.
- Only pick the blueberries you plan on purchasing. In other words: No Picking and Dumping. Don’t be wasteful and only pick for the fun of it
- Only pick the BLUE berries. The green berries are off limits. They are still growing and picking them now will shorten the blueberry season.
- Pick the blueberries between your thumb and forefinger one at a time and slightly twist and pull.
- I don’t think you’re supposed to eat and pick but I do. Everytime. That’s why we go early in the mornings. I don’t feed the kids breakfast. I tell them to go pick their breakfast 😉
To sum it up: Eat and pick only the BLUE berries and buy what you pick. And have fun. While wearing sun protective gear and good shoes. But mostly just have fun.
How To Pick Blueberries At The Temecula Berry Company
Blueberry picking at The Temecula Berry Company is pretty self explanatory. You grab a small colored bucket and a pitcher if you’d like to and you go and pick the BLUE berries. Then when you’re done picking and taking pictures and sitting on the tractor and seeing the pigs and chickens you pay for your berries.
Each of my kids like to pick the color of their little buckets and I grab a pitcher and attach it by the handle to my stroller. I dump their berries from their buckets into the pitcher for safe keeping. As I mentioned before they like to run a muck and I wouldn’t want to pick up a bunch of berries off the ground because they spilled them.
Then we head towards to back rear of the farm where less berries are picked and are more plentiful and we pick. They eat their breakfast and I take a ton of pictures and we have a great time.
Cost & What To Do With The Berries When You’re Home
Each pint of blueberries at The Temecula Berry Company is $5. They also sell local honey and baked goods. I highly recommend the honey.
When we go blueberry picking we purchase two pints at a time. We eat them everyday with breakfast and for snacking. I make blueberry pancakes regularly and use the blueberries for making fruit popsicles and for topping on their cheerios.
The Temecula Berry Company
39700 Cantrell Road
Temecula, CA 92591
(951) 225-5552
Hours: Daily 8am – 6pm
For directions and more information log on to The Temecula Berry Company
I have many fond memories of blueberry pickin’ at Temecula Berry Co farm with The Grands. Yes it’s HOT and oh so worth the sweatin’. Your blueberry pancakes are Yummy – lol
I came here after Kim Tracy Prince shared your post on Facebook and A. you’re hilarious (duh. kind of the point of the blog, right?) and B. my sister-in-law and three kids live in Temecula so you can bet I’m making her take us here this summer.
She’s usually just dragging me to wineries. Which isn’t bad, either.
Just not great for breakfast. 🙂
We’re nowhere near you but we do want to go blueberry picking. We’re in NJ (blueberry capital of the world…or so some signs say). I love your tips, especially the closed-toed shoes! Think we’re going the first week of July.
Great post, I will definitely be taking my kids to pick berries but maybe in a few months, when it’s cooler. Please take a look at my website for some more ideas for things to do with kids in the Inland Empire.
That’s great, your kids will love blueberry picking. The season will be over in a few weeks however, perhaps you can go early in the season next year (it starts in May).
thanks for the tip!