It's grape and fig picking time! More figs are ripening every day, and Saturday 7/31/21 will be the FIRST day of Muscadine Grape picking ever on this farm. Please visit the homepage on this website and scroll down to "Berry and Grape" picking tips so when you come out you will know what to look for. Figs, Grapes and Blackberries can all be picked in the same box.For U-Pick: Black "Supreme" muscadine grapes, Bronze "Fry" muscadines, Celeste Figs, LSU Purple Figs, LSU Gold Figs and Magnolia Figs. ALso U-Pick Vegs $2.00/lb.:Curly kale, dino kale, lots of heirloom Green Velvet okra, and peppers. VERY FEW blackberries left.

Hours for the coming week: Open Wed., 7/21/21 and Saturday 7/24/21. For Wed, 7/21/21, we should have for U-pick: Celeste figs, a few blackberries (more ripening soon), a few LSU Purple and LSU Gold figs (just starting to ripen), heirloom okra, curly kale, dinosaur kale, jalapenos, serranos, bell peppers, lots of eggplant (Japanese and Globe), a few tomatoes and zillions of zinnias. For sale in the market, pre-picked: watermelons (yellow-meat and red-meat), cantaloupes, spaghetti squash, acorn squash (green/white), butternut squash, along with our half-pints of preserves (made from our blackberries, peaches and figs). Eggplant bushes will be cut down soon so they can renew growth for a later fall crop, so get eggplant while you can. If you haven't yet had one of our super-sweet Dove cantaloupes, try one soon, as their season is just about over. Bring shears for cutting zinnias, eggplant, and some okra. The ONLY fruits available for picking are blackberries and figs. PLEASE DO NOT PICK ANY OTHER FRUIT. GRAPES, APPLES AND PERSIMMONS MAY LOOK RIPE TO YOU ,BUT THEY ARE IMMATURE AND NOT RIPE YET. See Home page for pricing, maps, etc.

 PEAK blackberry season is over, but there are still LOTS of blackberries to pick now. Peak just means the most ripe at one time, but there are still at least 1,000 pounds out there to pick now, and more ripening every day. The HUGE Freedom blackberries you picked in early May are starting to ripen their second crop now! Osage and Natchez blackberries are winding down and may be finished after this weekend, so if those are your faves, come pick then before they’re gone!  Ouachita blackberries are just about over, but still some left if you hurry. Traveler blackberries are just starting to bloom for their 2nd crop, and should be ripe same time as figs. Many vegs are ready to pick now— yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, okra, curly kale, dinosaur kale, peppers, cucumbers, and LOTS of eggplant  and tomatoes. Please remember to bring your shears for cutting eggplant, sunflowers & zinnias. The farmer picked (and ate!) the FIRST RIPE FIG of the season today—one Celeste! So we expect the fig pickin’ to begin around July 4 or a few days later.  
Hours the rest of this week: Fri, Sat, Sun. (June 25, 26, 27, 2021) 7:30am-1:00pm.Pickers must check in by 12:30pm, and pick. weigh, and pay by closing time. We're open even if it's raining, but no picking during lightning. Pre-Picked in the market: LOTS of tomatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, eggplant, watermelons & cantaloupes. NOTE: WATERMELONS & CANTALOUPES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR U-PICK. Market also offers drinks, peach BBQ wood, homemade preserves from our fruit. ORCHARD IS CURRENTLY CLOSED--will re-open for fig season. Sorry, no picnic area. See HOME page for pricing, maps, etc.
 

If you've never experienced the thrill of harvesting carrots, now's your chance! Kids and 'still kids at heart' love the surprise when they pull carrots out of the ground. We have a nice patch of carrots beside the back thornless blackberry field, near the U-pick sunflowers, cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini. Other U-pick fields have: kale, dinosaur kale, eggplant, tomatoes all sizes, banana peppers, serrano peppers, and zinnias. Hours the rest of this week: Wed. thru Sun. (June 23-27, 2021) 7:30am-1:00pm, AND SPECIAL EVENING HOURS ON Wed. 6/23/21 4:30pm-8:00pm. Pickers must check IN at least 30 min before closing time, and pick. weigh, and pay by closing time. We're open even if it's raining, but no picking during lightning. Pre-Picked in the market: LOTS of tomatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, eggplant, watermelons & cantaloupes. NOTE: WATERMELONS & CANTALOUPES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR U-PICK. Market also offers drinks, peach bbq wood, homemade preserves and jelly. Bring shears for cutting sunflowers, zinnias and eggplant. ORCHARD IS CURRENTLY CLOSED--will re-open it when figs are ready in a couple of weeks! Sorry, no picnic area. See HOME page for pricing, etc.  FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920.

Delicious mid-summer harvest still happening this week, with blackberries, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupes and more, fresh from our farm! We plan to be open this week Tuesday thru Sunday (June 22-27, 2021) 7:30am-1:00pm.--check in by 12:30pm; check out by 1:00pm sharp. AND SPECIAL EVENING HOURS WED. (6/23/21) 4:30pm-8:00pm (check in by 7:30pm). Lots of blackberries NOW and for the next week or so, as red berries ripen to black. After that, most remaining blackberries are under leaves and protected from the brutal sun, so harder to see and pick. So if you want to pick lots of berries in a short amount of time, don't wait! We see more birds now scavenging the blackberry field, so come on out and pick before the birds get them all! We're open even if it's raining, but no picking during lightning. For U-Pick: Thornless blackberries, kale, dino kale, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes all sizes, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, banana peppers & serrano peppers. Pre-Picked in the market: LOTS of tomatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, and various other vegs, including watermelons & cantaloupes. NOTE: WATERMELONS & CANTALOUPES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR U-PICK. Market also offers drinks, peach BBQ wood, homemade preserves and jelly. Bring shears for sunflowers, zinnias and eggplant. ORCHARD IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO EVERYONE, even "just lookers."--FIGS NOT READY YET! Sorry, NO PICNIC AREA. See home page on this website for prices, etc. FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920.
 

We will have lots of blackberries for the next week or two, as the red ones ripen to black. After that, most remaining blackberries will be under the leaves because they are protected from the brutal sun, so more difficult to see and pick. So if you want to pick lots of berries in a short amount of time, don't wait! The rest of this week, we will be open Thurs thru Sunday (June 17-20, 2021): 7:30am-1:00pm, so must check in by 12:30pm. We're open even if it's raining, but no picking during lightning. LOTS of tomatoes and various other vegs. Bring shears for sunflowers and some vegs. Pre-picked in the market, we have: homegrown watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, peach bbq wood, homemade preserves and jelly. See www.nealsberryfarm.com for pricing, maps, etc. and https://www.nealsberryfarm.com/updates-neals-berry-farm-blog. .) FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920.

The blackberry plants LOVED the snow and 8 degree freeze they got in February, so more blackberries are ripening simultaneously than ever before. We're open even if it's raining, but no picking during lightning. PEAK BLACKBERRY AND TOMATO SEASON IS NOW, along with lots of other veggies for U-Pick: Squash (Butternut, spaghetti, yellow, zucchini), beets, cabbage, kale, dinosaur kale, cucumbers, peppers and more. If you need lots of blackberries and tomatoes, now is the time for easy picking! Bring garden shears to cut sunflowers, zinnias and some vegs. See Home Page here for pricing, maps, etc.

Calling all Blackberry-Lovers, Jelly-Makers, Cobbler-Bakers, and Wine-Makers--THIS IS YOUR BEST WEEK TO PICK BLACKBERRIES ALL YEAR! There won't be another time this year when there are more ripe blackberries at once. Four of our five varieties of thornless blackberries are producing this coming week and possibly next week. After that, amounts ripening will slowly diminish as the annual blackberry season fades. Easiest and best picking is NOW! Peak blackberry season typically runs last week in May thru first two weeks of June, so we are right in the middle of that time period. Tomato season just starting, and they are highly susceptible to various demons, especially with recent monsoons, so pick tomatoes while they are abundant and lookin' good. OPEN Sunday 6/6/21 7:30am-1:00pm. (OPEN TUES. THRU SUNDAYS 7:30am-1:00pm UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Pickers must check in at market before 12:30pm to pick, weigh and pay before our 1:00pm sharp closing time.) We're open even if it's raining, but no picking during lightning. Rain boots or yard shoes recommended at this time. Lots of good stuff to pick: THREE MILES of thornless blackberries in peak production, 1,000 ft. of tomatoes on fences, kale, dinosaur kale, cabbage, Napa cabbage, squash (yellow, zucchini, spaghetti), peppers, cucumbers, beets, few radishes. Bring shears to cut zinnias, sunflowers and some vegs. Pre-picked: acorn squash (white, green, and yellow), spaghetti squash, tomatoes, and a few peaches. Peach BBQ wood & homemade preserves/jelly for sale in the market. Check HOME tab on this website for pricing, maps, etc., and ALWAYS check this "Updates" tab before coming to be sure we are open. Special welcome to area bikers for our first of two "Biker Berry Weekends." (see flyer in photos below) FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920.

Open Thurs 6/3/21, and Tues. thru Sundays (7:30am-1:00pm) until further notice. On open days, pickers must check in at market before 12:30pm to pick, weigh and pay before our 1:00pm sharp closing time. U-Pick available Thur. 6/3/21: thornless blackberries, cabbage, Napa Cabbage, yellow squash, zucchini, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, beets, peppers, kale, dinosaur kale, green onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers, zinnias and a few eggplants. Sorry, peach season is over. Please bring your garden shears/clippers to cut flowers and some vegs. Delicious homemade preserves and jelly for sale in the market: Peach, Wild Mustang Grape, Blackberry, LSU Purple Fig, and LSU Gold Fig. Check HOME tab on nealsberryfarm.com for pricing, maps, etc., and ALWAYS check this "Updates" tab before coming to be sure we are open. FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed off, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920.

We will be open Thur. 5/27/21 for LOTS of U-Pick thornless blackberries. Peak blackberry season usually runs the last week of May thru mid-June, so NOW is the time to pick or make plans to come in the next couple of weeks or you will miss out on the main season. One customer asked ,"What day is peak season?" There isn't any ONE day, the season has built over the last 3 weeks, and now we have about 2-3 more weeks of LOTS of berries, then mid-late June the amount of ripe berries lessens as more get picked and the heat usually sets in. The torrential rains seem to have left the area, so we expect good weather for the next few days. We plan to be open daily for a while, but ALWAYS check this blog or Facebook "Neal's Berry Farm & Farmer's Market" before coming in case something changed. Pickers check in before 12:30pm to pick, weigh and pay by our 1:00pm sharp closing time. Available for U-Pick on Thu. 5/27/21: Blackberries, yellow squash, zucchini (yellow/green), spaghetti sq., acorn sq., beets, peppers, kale, dinosaur kale, green onions, carrots, cucumbers, sunflowers, zinnias, and MAYBE a few peaches. Ripe tomatoes hopefully start next week. Please bring your garden shears/clippers to cut flowers and some vegs.). FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed off, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920. Fields are still moist, so rain boots or closed-toe shoes that can get wet are advised in some areas. Check HOME tab on this website for pricing, maps, etc.

U-Pick peaches start tomorrow (Tues. 5/25/21)! Season will be VERY SHORT (thanks to 7 degree temps in Feb. 2021), so hurry in before they're gone! We are just entering the beginning of PEAK BLACKBERRY SEASON, so there are more ripe blackberries than ever before! Blackberry season will likely be shorter than usual this year, so don’t wait to pick them either. Open Tues, 5/25/21 7:30am-1:00pm for U-Pick: Blackberries, peaches, yellow squash, zucchini (yellow/green), spaghetti sq., acorn sq., beets, peppers, kale, dino kale, green onions, carrots, cucumbers, sunflowers, zinnias, and possibly more. No ripe tomatoes yet. Rain boots or shoes that can get wet are advised! Please bring your garden shears/clippers to cut flowers and some vegs. Pickers check in before 12:30pm to pick, weigh and pay by our 1:00pm sharp closing time. Entry: $2/ea age 2 yr. and up. Re-usable fruit picking box $2/ea—Blackberries and peaches may be combined in same box. Fruit price: $5.00/lb. Heavy-duty Vegetable picking bag $.50 ea, or use thin free plastic bag. Veg price: $2.00/lb except cabbage ($4/head).  Farm subject to being picked out or rained out, so ALWAYS check this "Updates" blog or Facebook "Neal's Berry Farm & Farmer's Market" before coming out.  See HOME tab on this website for pricing, maps, history, etc. FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed off, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920. After the recent heavy rains, our plants, trees and vines need their RIPE harvest picked asap to facilitate future production. Hope to see y’all tomorrow!

Look at these beautiful blackberries--picked today by a customer! Lots more where these came from. Open tomorrow (Friday, 5-21-21 7:30am-1:00pm). Also plan to open 7:30am-1:00pm Saturday (5-22-21)and Sun. (5-23-21) unless rained out or picked out. Berries are ripening fast with today's sunshine, so more and more varieties of berries are available to pick. All squash, including yellow crookneck, zucchini (green & yellow), spaghetti, and acorn are growing so fast you can almost watch them increase in size! Also available for picking: curly kale, dino kale, eggplant, some peppers, zinnias, sunflowers. Tomatoes not quite ripe yet. Please bring your garden shears/clippers to cut flowers and some vegs. Pickers check in before 12:30pm to pick, weigh and pay by our 1:00pm sharp closing time. FYI: Binford Rd. is under construction between HWY 290 and FM 2920, so if 290/Binford exit is closed off, exit Kickapoo or FM 2920. See HOME tab on this website for pricing, maps, history, etc. Come on out and enjoy picking in the cooler temps while the berries are plentiful!

Huge thanks to all who came out today for our season opener! Everything ripe got picked, so we will be closed Sun. 5/9/21 and Mon. 5/10/21. Back open Tuesday 5/11/21 with more ripe thornless blackberries, yellow squash, green zucchini, yellow zucchini, kale, dino kale, cabbage, Napa cabbage, zinnias and sunflowers. Please bring your garden shears to cut flowers. Once the season gets going, our regular hours will be Tuesday through Sunday 7:30am-1:00pm (closed Monday), but we are always subject to being picked out or rained out. But for now, with so many veggies not ready yet, we will let you know, as soon as we know, if we will be open the next day, so always check this  page or Facebook "Neal's Berry Farm & Farmer's Market" before your come out. Happy Mother's Day!

 
The season will open tomorrow, (Saturday, May 8, 2021 7:30am-1:00pm), with zinnias, sunflowers, kale, dinosaur kale, Napa cabbage, yellow squash, zucchini, and A FEW RIPE BLACKBERRIES. The yellow sign pictured here will also be posted (on a porch post!) in the market, but reading it ahead of your visit will help move the line quicker. Also, we have copies of the site map on the porch posts, but again, studying it in advance or having it handy on your phone for reference will help. Cash is preferred for check-in to speed the process, but we do take cards. PLEASE bring your garden shears to cut zinnias and sunflowers. We expect to have largest blackberry harvest ever, but the season is starting later than usual due to the cool spring weather, so not many ripe blackberries yet. Hence the limit of one zip-top bag per paid entry for a short time. But don't expect to fill that bag tomorrow unless you are an early picker. Wait a few weeks for the easy pickin'.  See our HOME tab on this website for rules, etc. and see the SITE MAP tab here for an aerial view of the farm with legend. Looking forward to a great season and seeing many of our friends of the farm!

We will open the farm on Saturday, May 8, 2021 (7:30am-1:00pm), but don't get too excited and think there will be much to pick on the first day. There MAY be 10 lbs. of ripe blackberries on the 3 miles of fences now, but you can see TONS will ripen soon. We'll have more total berries than ever before, but the harvest will be a little later than usual. Because the cool spring has been great for early crops like squash, kale, Napa cabbage, sunflowers, and zinnias, we need to open and get them picked. If you're just looking for an outing and want to see what will be ready soon, come out and enjoy the morning, with limited expectations. At any time during the open hours, we are likely to be "picked out" on specific items. Admission $2.00-age 2 and up. Please bring your garden shears to cut flowers. See our "Home" tab on this website for more information about visiting the farm. We wish we could open with more, but we are grateful for what we do have, and are looking forward to the season being our best ever; it's just getting off to a slow start.

What a difference two months of warmer weather and lots of hard work makes. It should be a great blackberry picking year, with greater production than last year. Jury is still out on when the earliest variety will be ready to pick, and we have the fewest of that kind. We have many more plants of the varieties that usually begin harvest in mid-May and last til the end of July. Due to popular demand, we planted more veggies and sunflowers than last year,  but again, weather in the next two weeks will determine their beginning harvest date.

Wow! What a wild crazy season we have had this year! We went from being worried in mid-April that we wouldn't even be allowed to open at all due to Covid-19, to then suddenly being allowed to open AND being one of the few types of business people could get out and enjoy. We appreciate ALL of you who participated in ANY way to keep this season going. We have the most amazing customers who want this farm to succeed, and because you got the word out that this was the place to be, it will! For the first time EVER in the history of our business, we had to limit the amount of blackberries to 1 qt. zip-top bag per person for the first two weeks. But no one seemed to mind, you were just patient and returned again and again when you could pick all you wanted. We work 9 months of the year to get ready for the 3 months you can pick, so for us, the work never ends. We have already completed the first of several prunings of all the peach trees and most of the blackberry plants, so a huge bonfire is on the calendar as soon as we get some rain. After this year, we have a better idea of what to plant more of, and we have plans for some new products next season. Thanks again for your patronage and support, and check back here periodically to see what we have going on to get ready for an even bigger and better 2021 season!
 

Will be open Tuesday, July 21, 2020 (7:30am-1:00pm) for U-Pick and market shopping. THIS WEEK WILL LIKELY BE THE LAST WEEK OF THE 2020 SEASON, and TUESDAY 7/21/20 MIGHT BE THE LAST DAY-- WE'RE NOT SURE YET.  Pre-picked in the market, we will have Tuesday: lots of Watermelons (red and yellow-meat), Cantaloupes, Fresh-shelled Purple-Hull Peas, squash (butternut, spaghetti, Delicata), Pumpkins (Fairy-tale and Cushaw a.k.a. Green Striped Pumpkin). Early U-pickers can find blackberries and figs, and MAY find cucumbers, okra, and eggplant, and a little more of the other veggies on the yellow sign.  Zinnias are still blooming like crazy, and there are lots of Sunflowers, with some sunflowers at the seed stage which are great for self-serve bird/squirrel feeders. So make a trip to see the farm and pick some veggies and figs, and LOTS of flowers.  Please bring your clippers, and please DO NOT pick any fruit except blackberries and figs. Other fall/winter fruits are small and immature, and we would like to have them left on the trees to be able to harvest them at their peak later this year. Come visit us and help us close out this fabulous 2020 season!

Will be open Saturday, 7-18-20 (7:30am-1:00pm) for U-Pick and market shopping. NEXT WEEK WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST WEEK OF THE 2020 SEASON. Pre-picked in the market, we will have tomorrow: lots of Watermelons (red and yellow-meat), cantaloupes, Fresh-shelled Purple-Hull Peas, squash (butternut, spaghetti, Delicata), pumpkins (Fairy-tale and cushaw a.k.a. Green Striped Pumpkin). For U-Pick, the pickin's are getting mighty slim, and the early-pickers MAY find okra, eggplant, and cucumbers, and there a little more of the other veggies on the yellow sign. Early pickers can find blackberries and figs. There are TONS of zinnias and lots of Sunflowers, with some sunflowers at the seed stage which are great for self-serve bird/squirrel feeders. So come out and enjoy the morning, but don't come with high expectations of a bountiful harvest like you have had earlier in the season. But do bring your clippers so you can cut sunflowers and some of the veggies. Please DO NOT pick any fruit except blackberries and figs. Other fall/winter fruits are small and immature, and we would like to have them left on the trees to be able to harvest them at their peak later this year.

Open Thurs. 7-16-20 (7:30am-1:00pm). See yellow sign pictured here showing availability for U-Pick. Pickers must arrive before 12:30pm to pick, weigh & pay before our 1:00pm sharp closing time.Lots of figs & flowers, and smaller amounts of some veggies available for U-Pick. NEW! Cream peas aren't listed on the sign, but are ready for U-Pick. They are in same back field with purple-hull peas and sunflowers. We also have lots of watermelons, cantaloupes, squash, Fairytale pumpkins, fresh-shelled purple-hull peas and more for sale in the market. Sad to say, peach season is over for 2020. It was a great peach year, but every last peach has been sold. PICKERS: PLEASE DO NOT PICK ANY FRUIT EXCEPT BLACKBERRIES AND FIGS.  Some of the fall/winter-harvest fruits are growing on trees now, but they are very small and if they are picked now we won't have any persimmons, Meyer lemons, pomegranates, oranges, apples, or any of the other fruits from our trees. Recently we have had some "limes" picked by customers, but we don't have any lime trees--these are immature Meyer lemons that start out very small and green. So thank you for only picking what is designated for U-Pick. And remember to bring your clippers for cutting sunflowers, zinnias, okra and eggplant.  2020 Season will be closing soon!