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Posted 5-29-13: Get ready for more ‘pesticide-free’ berry picking Thursday, May 30, 2013. Lots of big, juicy Kiowa blackberries and a few strawberries are available for picking from 10:00 am til we get picked out. Farmer’s Market is open 10:00 am til 6:00 pm, but field will only stay open til “picked-out” status occurs. All berries must be picked and checked out by 6:00 pm if we still have berries that late. All U-pick berries are $4.00/lb. Pickers please make right turn as you enter driveway and park in designated lot near Gosling Rd., then walk to market for bucket and instructions. We accept MC/Visa/Discover, & cash. Check out our selection of veggie & herb plants too! Lots of different peppers –mild, hot, and OMG hot!
Posted 5-28-13: Blackberry field will be closed for picking until 10:00 am Thursday, May 30, 2013, to allow time for more to ripen. Strawberry patch is also closed til then. Farmer’s Market will continue to be open Mon-Sat 10 am-6 pm, and Sun 10 am-2 pm even when berry picking is not available. Thank you for your patience.
Posted 5-27-13: Sorry but we are picked out for today. Market will be open til 6:00 but the fields are closed for today. Thanks to all who came out earlier.
Posted 5-27-13: We WILL be open for blackberry and strawberry picking on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, from 10:00 am til 6:00 pm. Thanks to all for patiently waiting these last 2 days for more to ripen. Lots of berries are available, but if we get picked out we will have to close the field. Parking is very limited, so carpooling is encouraged when possible. Pickers please make an immediate right as you enter the driveway, and park in lot up front by Gosling Rd. Then walk south to the Farmer’s Market for a picking bucket and instructions. All berries are $4.00/lb for U-pick. We take MC/Visa/Discover & cash. Farmer’s Market is open 10am-6 pm, with lots of fresh veggies & fruit, local honey, dry beans & fruit, Mexican vanilla, free-range eggs, jar products and our own farm-raised natural pork. Out front we have lots of veg plants, including some pepper plants in large pots, eggplant, herbs, even Ghost Chili Pepper plants. Hope to see y’all on Memorial Day!
Posted 5-25-13 The blackberries will again be under “picked-out” status for Sunday, May 26, 2013. Thanks to our cool spring, the crop is running about 2 weeks behind norm. More are ripening each day, so we HOPE to have good news for Memorial Day picking. The fields are completely closed all day Sunday, but the Farmer’s Market will be open from 10:00 am til 2:00 pm with lots of fresh veggies & fruit, local honey, dry beans & fruit, Mexican vanilla, free-range eggs and our own farm-raised natural pork. Check back Sunday night here or on Facebook for Monday, May 27 Memorial Day picking status.
Posted 5-Posted 5-24-13 Sorry, folks, but we will NOT have U-pick berries tomorrow, Saturday, May 25, 2013. Due to the cool spring, our picking season is running about 2 weeks behind norm, and is not at peak yet. Thank you all who picked today (Friday), and we hope to have enough berries ripe to open the picking on this Sunday (& Monday) but no guarantees. Check Facebook for updates each evening as we evaluate for the next day of this weekend. Our Farmer’s Market will be open usual hours, Mon-Sat, 10 am-6 pm; Sun, 10 am-2 pm., but the field will be closed to the public on “picked-out” days. We share your disappointment, but Mother Nature schedules the blackberry ripening process.
Posted 5-22-13: Blackberry picking season is officially open today! Cost: $4.00 lb. for U-Pick. Berries are on 6′ tall trellis fence so picking is easy! Pickers please make immediate right turn after entering driveway & park in shaded lot up near Gosling Rd. , then walk South to the Farmer’s Market to get a bucket & picking instructions. Hours: Mon thru Sat, 10 am-6pm; Sun 10 am-2 pm. (Berries should be picked and checked out by closing time.) We also usually have pre-picked blackberries for sale in the market, $6.00 lb. Looks to be a great 2013 season!
Posted 3-13-2013
Market has been open since 2-1-2013, and hopefully we have had our last cold snap for a while. We will be open daily til late July, except for a few holidays. Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-2pm. (Hours subject to change without notice.)Our own farmer’s market is loaded now with homegrown tomatoes, Sugar-snap peas, snow peas, kale, and lots more!
NOTE: WE DO NOT HAVE U-PICK STRAWBERRIES THIS YEAR. We are growing some fabulous strawberries, but they are only offered pre-picked by us, for sale in our market. They are sweet, juicy, pesticide-free and full of real old-fashioned natural strawberry flavor. We regret that we are not able to offer u-pick strawberries for the public, but the crop is not great enough for that. This year, we have quality, not quantity.
Now is the time to plant your spring/summer garden, and we have LOTS of plants for you to choose from. We currently have over 40 varieties of tomato plants, lots of peppers, including colorful bells, bananas, anaheims, jalapenos, habaneros, and an assortment of hard-to-find specialty peppers. Other veggie plants are for sale as we can grow them, and we sell seed packs for some veggies that do well direct-seeded. We package the seeds ourselves from our bulk stock, so you can buy the same varieties that we plant. Because we plant these, we know they do well in this area and feel confident offering the seeds for sale to the home gardeners. We also offer a variety of herbs, more now in early spring, but some should still be available into the summer.
So far it’s looking like a good year for blackberries. Check back later for updates when we know more.
Please note that our farm/fields are ALWAYS closed to the public except for certain areas that are only open during blackberry season. The only thing that is open now is the market itself and the potted plant sale area. We are not an agri-tourism farm, we are a small working farm striving to grow and market as much as we can.
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Posted 9-8-12: Market is now open for fall/winter season. Hours Mon-Sat: 10 am-6 pm. Sun: 10 am-2 pm. Open daily til Christmas Eve 2012, except for a few holidays. Seasonal local & home-grown fruits & vegs. Year-round availability for local honey, USA-grown fruits & vegs, locally-harvested Oak Firewood, free-range eggs, jam & jelly products, dried fruit, dry beans & nuts. Homegrown pickings currently include yellow squash, Zephyr squash, zucchini squash, green onions, eggplant, cucumbers, and basil.
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Posted Saturday, June 23, 2012:
Blackberry season is winding down now–very few berries remaining. It might be OK for a short outing, but don’t expect to pick a lot of berries. Some are red and will turn black if no one picks them first or the birds don’t get to them before you. We will have cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes to pick maybe for another week or so. Then after that nothing for U-Pick til maybe strawberries next spring. Our market will be open til last week of July, and we currently have lots of homegrown watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, squash, okra, etc. This fall, we will have lots of our homegrown pumpkins–all sizes & colors we pick from our patch in Montgomery county and bring here to sell in our market.
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Posted Thursday, June 14, 2012:
We still have lots of blackberries for picking, but are now on the downside of peak season. We will be open Friday, June 15, from 9:00 am -7:00 pm, and after that will revert to the following regular hours:
Monday thru Saturday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.
The farmer’s market will be open the same hours. Click on the Pick-Your-Own tab on this website for more information.
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Posted May 28, 2012:
Blackberries are at their peak now, in their best year ever. Yield is so great that we need to extend our hours so more pickers can have the opportunity to fit berry-picking into their schedule. On Memorial Day (May 28, 2012) we will be open 9:00 am til 7:00 pm. The market will also be open the same hours.
New Temporary Hours for Berry Season:
Monday, May 28 thru Saturday, June 2, 2012 Open 9:00 am-7:00 pm.
Sunday, June 3 Open 10:00 am-2:00 pm
Monday, June 4 thru Saturday, June 9, 2012 Open 9:00 am-7:00 pm
Sunday, June 10 Open 10:00 am-2:00 pm
Monday, June 11 thru Friday, June 15, 2012 Open 9:00 am-7:00 pm
After June 15, we will assess the harvest remaining and schedule accordingly. If you do not hear from us at that point, check Facebook or our website for updates or call 281-255-3699 for info. Our normal hours are Monday-Saturday 10 am-6 pm, Sunday 10 am-2pm, so if berry production is tapering off by mid-June, we might possibly return to regular hours at that time.
U-Pick Prices: $3.50/lb for blackberries, strawberries, red/black cherry tomatoes and red/yellow grape tomatoes. (These are the ONLY things we have for u-pick. All the rest of the produce is picked by our staff. Note the only tomatoes for u-pick are the small ones. The large tomatoes are not for u-pick) The strawberry season is just about over, but there are still some there if you look. Tomatoes are producing heavily now and will be for a while yet. Pickers please make an immediate right turn as you enter the driveway and park in the pickers’ parking lot. Walk south to the market and get a bucket and picking instructions.
www.nealsberryfarm.com Facebook: Neal’s Berry Farm & Farmer’s Market
24527 1/2 Gosling Road
Spring, Texas 77389 email: nealsberryfarm@yahoo.com
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Posted: May 9, 2012:
Hello, Friends of the Farm!
Are you ready for some berries? We hope so, ‘cause picking season will officially begin here on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. Early indications are that it will be a bumper crop of Blackberries, and we know y’all are more than ready for a bountiful harvest after last year’s slim pickins. Favorable weather conditions have helped improve this year’s outlook:
1. Late freeze in 2011 killed Blackberry blossoms before they emerged—no late freeze in 2012.
2. Exceptionally windy Spring 2011 prevented bees from pollinating the berries—no such
wind in Spring 2012.
3. Inadequate rainfall in 2011. We drip-irrigate, but have had ample rain so far in 2012.
4. Scorching heat cooked berries on the vines in 2011, hence an early end to season. Adequate
moisture this spring has helped to grow more leaf cover, so if summer 2012 is as
hot as last year, season may last longer but the leaves should protect them from the heat.
5. One advantage to last years’ season ending so soon was that we were able to prune earlier.
Since Blackberries put fruit on new growth, the plants had more time to grow bigger
for 2012, which has the effect of more and bigger berries!
In addition to U-Pick Blackberries, we also offer U-Pick Strawberries and U-Pick Tomatoes. Strawberries are mostly “Eversweet,” an ever-bearing variety that is promoted as bearing in over 100 degree temperatures. Strawberry plants are looking great now, and are planted in rows between the Blackberry fences. Tomato varieties available for picking are Juliet Grape, Black Cherry, Red Cherry and SunGold Cherry. A wide variety of pre-picked fresh fruits & vegetables, free-range eggs, cold drinks, ice cream, snacks, jar goods (jelly, preserves, pickled items, salsa, etc.) candles, pasta, fertilizers, gardening treatments, vegetable plants, fig trees & more are available in our Market.
Farmer’s Market and U-Pick hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday thru Saturday, and 10:00 am-2:00 pm on Sunday. Please have your picking done and checked out by closing time. U-Pick Blackberries, Strawberries and Tomatoes are $3.50 per pound. We accept MC, Visa, Discover and cash. We’re not sure if berries will last into July, so plan your picking soon!
Pickers please make an immediate right turn as you enter the driveway and park in the shaded lot near Gosling Road. After parking, please visit the market for buckets and instructions. Water coolers and park benches are placed in the field, and Porta-Pottie and hand sink are located between market and pickers’ parking lot.
Please remember, this is a WORKING FARM and contains restricted areas that are closed to the public for safety reasons. Parents, please make sure children at all times observe all warning signs and barrier tape, and treat the plants in a respectful manner. No pets (other than guide dogs) are permitted anywhere on the farm. PLEASE NOTE: The picking field and Farmer’s Market are the ONLY areas that are open to the public.
Thanks for your interest in our micro-farm. Hope to see you soon.
The Neal Family
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Posted June, 2011:
Neal’s Berry Farm & Farmer’s Market
Located in northwest Harris County, Texas, just south of The Woodlands, our farm and market strives to offer a local one-stop shopping experience for those looking for fresh produce, dry pantry items, candles, plants, and plant accessories. In addition to our 3 acres of blackberries, we also grow a wide variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Our “almost-year-round” farmer’s market features local honey, nuts, jams, jellies, pickled vegetables, salsa, dressing, herbs, gift items, Circle E Candles, and colorful free-range eggs from our own flock of chickens. We sell locally produced items when possible–look for the bright green labels denoting local products. If it is something we grew, the label will state “homegrown” also.
For home gardeners, we offer plants grown right here from seed and/or cuttings. If you’re looking for a hard-to-find heirloom tomato plant, check us out in early spring. We specialize in vegetable plants designed for containers and square-foot gardens. You’ll find lots of unusual varieties here in planting season!
As Neal’s Berry Farm continues to evolve, we seize every opportunity to further our education and discover methods to bring more to the table—your table. The circle of life embraces not just the animal kingdom, but the agricultural community as well. As so succinctly scribed in the Bible (Eccliastes 3:1), and again in 1965 by the folk rock band The Byrds, in their classic “Turn! Turn! Turn!” : To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted . . .”
