Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms (2024)

I am back at Tanaka Farms for strawberry picking! How many strawberries will I pick this time?

After my first strawberry picking experience, I learned to bring a lunch bag with ice to hold my strawberries. I arrived in time for the 10:30am tour and got my sticker for the day. I put on sunscreen for my face (I had long sleeves on since it wasn’t too hot) while waiting to get on the wagon.

The staff took our group to the wagon just before 10:30am. It was a short walk to the wagon, and we had to wait in line to get on. Since I was towards the front of the group, I ended up in the first wagon – right behind the tractor. This is probably one of the worst seats because the wheels kicked up so much dust!

Our guide stood between the two wagons and used a megaphone to speak. It was pretty hard to hear her, but the route was basically the same as last year’s tour. Our first stop was at a field of brussels sprouts – I had never thought about what brussels sprouts grow on, but I was very surprised to see them grow on a stalk! The brussels sprouts were so tall and big. To pick the brussels sprouts, you turn it like a light bulb and it’ll easily come off the stalk. We were each given a small box to fill up, and I was able to fit 15 brussels sprouts in my box!

Our next stop was for the strawberries. We were allowed to eat as much as we could and fit as many strawberries as we wanted to in our box, as long as the box was able to close. The strawberries from last year looked tastier, but this year, I fit 35 in my box! I didn’t eat any strawberries while I was picking because I was afraid it was not very clean. There were spiderwebs around some of the strawberries!

After strawberry picking, I stopped by the Barnyard Educational Exhibit again. I recognized a few animal friends from last year! One new animal friend this year is the turkey – this turkey yelled so loud it made me jump every time!

Before leaving, I stopped by the Produce Market Stand for some Rosemary Garlic Bread and Orange Blossom Honey! Overall, this was a pretty cool event, but maybe next time we can come during another season for another fruit.