Pick-your-own raspberries at Brooks Farms at 122 Ashworth Rd, Mount Albert

This was my first time picking raspberries and it was a lot of fun!  I’m so glad that I saw my friend’s story on Instagram and that was how I found out that Brooks Farms in Mount Albert has pick-your-own raspberries.  They also have strawberries, green peas, gooseberries and more for picking during the appropriate seasons.

My friend had gone a week earlier than me and said there were a lot of raspberries for picking.  We went on July 21 early in the morning at around 10 a.m. (the farm is open from 9 to 5 p.m. with the last picking at 4 p.m.) and were one of the early birds to arrive.

Brooks Farms pick your own fruit guidelines

Shipping container where you pay for the baskets before you pick the fruit

There was a manned shipping container where there was information about the price of the raspberry baskets.  Everyone above the age of 6 was required to buy a basket in order to enter the raspberry fields, but this rule didn’t seem enforced as we didn’t see other families having to purchase the set number of baskets.

There were five sizes of baskets available:

• 1/2 pint for $3.50
• 1 pint for $7
• 1 quart for $8
• 2 litres for $16
• 4 litres for $32

Prices for the baskets

We decided to get two of the 2-litre baskets since they had handles on the baskets and would be easier to carry.  I also anticipated two baskets in case the two kids fight over the baskets lol.  But turns out I didn’t need to worry about this because they didn’t want to carry the baskets and only wanted to pick the fruits.

The sizes of the baskets

Raspberry plants at Brooks Farms

There were dozens and dozens of rows and rows of raspberry plants in the field.  The further you walked into the field, the more raspberries there were and the bigger they were too!

We spent under 2 hours picking raspberries here.  There is a no snacking policy where you aren’t allowed to eat the fruits that you pick.  However, I certainly noticed a few people trying some berries.  There were so many!

Lots of big raspberries the further in you walk

As it was my first time picking raspberries, I found it so interesting that the raspberries just come off from the branch leaving a little hole in its place — just like how we usually see raspberries at the supermarket.  It’s such an newb observation since I had never picked these fruits before.  Some of the raspberries were so ripe that upon picking one, its neighbouring fruit fell by itself on to the ground.

It felt so relaxing to just go about the plants and pick the raspberries to our hearts’ content.  It was peaceful and a lot of fun.

The kids picked the raspberries easily on their own too!  There were varying heights to the plants and it was easy for them to reach.

The two baskets of raspberries we picked

Look at how big they are!

I would definitely recommend a visit to Brooks Farms to pick raspberries!