Jones Family Farms: My Strawberry Picking Day !!!

June is Strawberry Month!!!

It's the month when the local strawberries are in their prime but since we are now at the end of June, this is a recap of my fun day Strawberry Picking with my daughter at Jones Family Farms in Shelton, Connecticut.

I had mentioned in my kayaking day with my daughter (see article here) that here in Connecticut, I live very close to so many fun outdoor activities and strawberry picking is one of them.

I used to pick strawberries every year with my mother and I wanted to pass down this family tradition to my daughter and in fact, Avery and I went strawberry picking back in 2016 (see pics below) but we haven't been back since. So, I insisted she get off her phone and I piled her into the car and off we drove to the most beautiful farm in Connecticut, Jones Family Farms.

With over 400 acres across 3 separate farm locations, Jones Family Farms grows strawberries, blueberries, pumpkins, and Christmas trees. There's even a winery! YES! I've been enjoying these farm activities for years and have brought the kids here as babies to have their pictures taken with pumpkins, but today, I needed my daughter's help picking strawberries.

At Jones Family Farms, you book your picking time online and when you arrive, you are handed a large basket to fill it to the top with strawberries. Avery and I walked a short distance to the field, saw a few chicken coops along the way and met up with a strawberry guide to assist us in our strawberry picking.

The strawberry guide gave us a quick tutorial on how to pick the strawberries (lift up the leaves, find a ripe one, pinch the stem off the vine with your fingernail leaving some stem and gently place in the basket) and led us to our personal row of strawberries.

We got to work.

Let me tell you: it's very satisfying picking your own strawberries, but when you bring your 11-year-old child, expect to do 95% of the pick yourself! LOL.

It's all good -- I got to spend time with my daughter! Avery & I chatted and marveled at the different strawberries and their sizes. We could smell the aroma of fresh strawberries and grass and even chatted with our neighbor in the next strawberry row. We discussed what we were going to make with these strawberries: homemade strawberry ice cream for her, strawberry mojitos for me) and in no time, the basket was filled.

When we had no more room for strawberries, we headed back to the car, snapping a few pictures along the way (it was a "phone-free zone" except for picture taking) and Avery is a pretty good photographer!

Once home, I went to work immediately freezing the strawberries and that weekend we made the creamiest homemade strawberry ice cream (see recipe here) & mojitos (see recipe here). Well, I made and drank the mojitos myself!

We can't wait to return to Jones Family Farms next month for blueberry picking (and pumpkins in the fall, articles on that soon!)