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PICK THIS: BERRIES AND FLOWERS AT LOCAL U-PICKS
A few weeks ago, my husband, Mike, and I brought our two kids – Marco, 4 and Cecilia, 2 – to Swanton Berry Farm to go strawberry picking for the first time, and honestly, I was a little nervous. My toddlers can act like bulls in a china shop if silliness or hunger strikes. Would they be able to handle the delicate berries without smashing them? Would they stuff themselves with ripe fruit until they had a tummy ache? And, would they have any interest in going out into a field on a chilly summer morning when they could be at the playground or watching cartoons?
As it turns out, none of these anxieties came to pass, and fruit picking might be my children’s new favorite pastime. They delighted in finding ripe berries, and were careful not to pick unripe ones that had white or green spots. A few were happily snacked on, but the majority made it back to the farmstand to be weighed. There was a small amount of whining while we walked the quarter-mile back from the field, but that evaporated once the playground outside the stand came into view – and was forgotten by the time they wolfed down homemade sugar cookies with strawberry jam.
The fun rolled on all the way home, where we made strawberry popsicles and loaded our breakfasts with luscious fruit for a week straight.
Now, u-picks are on our radar, and thankfully the season is just coming into full swing in Santa Cruz County. I compiled a list of local farms that open their doors for guests to pick everything from flowers like lavender and dahlias, to tomatoes and produce, and of course strawberries.
Check it out here – and get pickin’!
BEST OF THE WEEK AHEAD
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
ICYMI – here are food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed.
- On Ocean Street, Marianne’s Ice Cream comes under the shadow of a major housing development (Lookout)
- Santa Cruz’s Mad Yolks cracks open new location in Pleasure Point (Lookout)
- Homeless Garden Project’s Sustain Supper returns July 19 (Lookout)
- From butter chicken to brisket: A guide to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s surprising new food scene (Lookout)
