Patch Visits A Strawberry Patch Where The Picking Is Fruitful

GUILFORD, CT —Great-grandmother Peg Rider from Madison went strawberry picking Thursday with four generations of family, the youngest, the greats, could not resist eating their crop.

The sky was an azure blue and the clouds, light and floating high above Bishop's main orchard on a low-humidity day, "perfect, absolutely perfect," a visitor said, for a trip to the pick-your-own strawberry patch at the well-known, and oft-visited orchard in Guilford.

In the endless rows of strawberry plants, lined with hay making navigation easy, could be seen the bent or crouched pickers, families mostly.

As Bishop's notes, the strawberry picking season is "short" but so worth it. A reporter can attest.

Located on the New England Road just down the way from Guilford High School, the "main orchard" is the site where visitors can pick strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, raspberries and, as is more likely far better known, apples and pumpkins in fall.

The strawberry season is from now until early July, so better get going on those.

"There are varieties that we grow that have been carefully selected due to their flavor and ability to cultivate well in our New England soils and weather," Bishop's notes. "Although the season for picking strawberries is short, it is worthwhile picking your batch as soon as possible before they are gone until next year."

Blueberry season is up next, starting in mid-July and continuing into late-August. It's among the longest grow seasons with a six-to-seven week harvest.

"As with our strawberries, we grow several varieties of blueberries on our lands that continuously ripen throughout the season. Do not take their small size the wrong way as they are very versatile and have excellent eating, cooking and freezing qualities. When picking, it is recommended that the berry has a full blue color to guarantee a full, sweet flavor. With a longer availability for picking, we rotate our picking areas to ensure a steady, uniform supply of ripe berries from the start to the end of the season."

Peaches, raspberries and pears are all crops ready for picking in mid to late August and continues into early fall. And of course, apples and pumpkins come autumn.

Read more about each crop and its season, and the pick-your-own guidelines and other information from the 150-year-old Bishop's Orchards here.

Bishop's recommends that to get the latest and "most accurate" pick-your-own information, call its 24-hour information phone line of 203-458-PICK (7425). The line is updated daily during the picking season.