While it seems like a clever trick to get free labor on farm owners' part, I always enjoy pick-your-own (or U-pick) farms. Local produce can't get much fresher! The many pick-your-own (PYO) farms in Maryland in the Baltimore area specialize in crops such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, cherries, apples, pumpkins and tomatoes.
Blueberries are my favorite and not just because they taste so good. But there are no thorns and very little stooping or stretching. For the most part, strawberry season is over. Cherries and raspberries are starting to ripen, and blueberries are just around the corner.
Mingodale Farm
||Baltimore County - Hereford Zone||17201 Masemore Road
Parkton, MD 21120
410-357-0403
Farm market
Create your own bouquet
Pick Your Own:
- Blackberries (June)
Rock Hill Orchard
||Montgomery County||28600 Ridge Rd.
Mount Airy, MD 21771
301-831-7427
Farm market
Create your own bouquet
Pick Your Own:
- Strawberries (June)
- Tart cherries (late June)
- Snap beans (mid July 10)
- Thornless blackberries (mid July 20)
- Red raspberries (August)
- Flowers (July)
- Apples (September)
- Pumpkins (October)
Shaw's Orchard
||Pennsylvania/Maryland state line||21901 Barrens Rd. South
Stewartstown, PA
717-993-2974 (PA)
410-692-2429 (MD)
Farm market
Pick Your Own:
- Strawberries (late May-early June)
- Cherries (mid-June)
- Blueberries (late June)
Weber's Cider Mill Farm
||Baltimore County||2526 Proctor Ln.
Baltimore, MD 21234
410-668-4488
Farm market
Baked goods
Ice cream parlor
Petting zoo
Pick Your Own:
- Apples (September)

