Doing U-pick is fun: rounded up for the fun factor. The fruit is not organic. In case you want to…read moreeat the U-pick fruit on the spot: Bring a basket with holes in the bottom, and bottled water, so that you can rinse the fruit before eating. The lineup: 5/5: U-pick boysenberries: June 4: Blenheim apricots, June: $3.70/pound. About 70% were ripe. 3: Dutch apple pie. Kind of meh. 3: Strawberry shortcake. Bring your own maple syrup and pour some on top; it needs some sweetness. 2: Cherry pie. Kinda meh. For boysenberries, consider wearing latex gloves to keep your hands from getting stained red.

Every now and then, during strawberry season, we pop into Gizdich Ranch, seeking out a Strawberry…read morePie like one that we got about 8 years ago. While we didn't see it listed on the menu board, when my wife asked the order taker, she knew exactly what we wanted and told her that the wait would be 15 minutes as they made them to order. OMG, it was beautiful! Loaded with fresh strawberries and just enough glaze to bind it, the glaze did not overwhelm the taste of the strawberries. You can't really slice it as created. Instead, you pick off some of the fruit on top until it's down to a manageable height and then we use a large spoon to parse it out. Whipped cream? Ice cream? Both would be excellent accompaniments to be sure, but we used neither.

After trying several CSAs and not getting any love from the waiting list for other CSAs with drop…read morepoints in my neighborhood - I nearly gave up til I discovered Mariquita. Andy & Julia offer a traditional CSA process of drop offs and have established bi-weekly "Mystery Box" nights at different meeting points around the city of San Francisco. For the Mystery Box - you never know what you'll get - but you'll definitely get far above your $25 worth! You can also sign up for updates from the "Ladybug Buying Club" - notices about veggies and fruit that are available in bulk for pickup at Mystery Box locations. Recently, I have brought home a giant Musquee de Provence pumpkin for $6, a flat of organic fall strawberries for $24, 25# of Braeburn apples for $26 and over the summer - basil for $1 for a generous bunch (I got 12!). Mariquita also hosts "U-Pick" events for tomatoes in the fall - and at fifty cents a pound, you'll find it hard to resist going home with less than 50# of tomatoes... I personally brought home 150# of tomatoes and now have tomato sauce for the rest of the year. Mariquita always has the best produce - unlike other CSAs, it doesn't just go bad in the fridge from being picked too ripe and hanging out in a hot warehouse or truck for too many days. What are you waiting for? Sign up for the Ladybug Buying Club newsletter now!

I've been getting produce from Mariquita Farms for at least the last four years. The mystery boxes…read moreare a blast, with tons of unusual produce that test my creativity and a great value at just $25 each (going up to $30 next month--still a great value). It may be a little pricey compared to your local Asian market, but for the quality and the focus on sustainability rather than the bottom line, it's worth it to me. The farm also sends out a newsletter alerting you to what's predicted to be in the box, recipe ideas, and happenings on the farm, which is great for planning what to do with the haul (because it is a haul!) and learning about where our food is coming from.

I had an absolutely awful experience with Laura and her business. In fact, this may have been the…read moreworst experience I've had as a customer, anywhere, ever. I had been in touch with Laura for a couple weeks about buying two pullets. She said I could come by July 3rd at 1pm. We were coming from the east bay, and after realizing the traffic was getting increasing worse on CA-17, I texted her and asked if I could come by at 2pm instead. She said okay. My 73-year old mother and I were in bumper to bumper traffic for 2.5 hours, trying to make it to Laura's farm. My mom was in town from SoCal for July 4th, and came along for a fun mother-daughter adventure. We finally got there, around 2:25pm, exasperated from hours of traffic. I texted Laura, per her instructions, that I was there at the farm. She then texted me back that I was late, she was "eating lunch" now, and would not come out to greet us. I said I was very sorry, we had been in awful traffic for over two hours, and I couldn't text since I was driving. I asked if we could wait until she was done with lunch. She texted back saying she would not sell me chickens anymore, since I was so rude for being late and not asking my elderly mom to reach out from her phone, informing her of the minor delay. She also said I should have predicted the increasing traffic before we left. Keep in mind I was a brand new, paying customer, who had just traveled over two hours in stop-n-go traffic to get to her farm, for two pullets. I wanted to support a local farm, instead of a more commercialized operation. It was intended to be a nice outing with my mom, who I don't get to see often. We had devoted our entire day to this. We finally got there, and Laura was now refusing to come out, because we were nominally late, due to holiday traffic. I felt so embarrassed and bad for my mom, who agreed to accompany me on this super long drive, only to be met with bizarre, belligerent texts from Laura upon our arrival. Laura proceeded to send me several walls of unhinged texts, chastising me for wasting her time, how she swept and cleaned up the coop for us, we were so disrespectful for being late, and she had to "hold me accountable". We read these texts while standing in her empty parking lot, completely baffled. We don't know this woman, we had never met her or even spoken on the phone before. We were new, honest customers, who had driven 2.5 hours to see her business. We just wanted to buy a couple chickens. It was such a nonsensical, hostile and unprofessional interaction, I genuinely wondered if she was impaired. She was not fit to interact with a customer, and I seriously question her judgement to properly care for these animals. Then I had to drive the 1+ hour home (without traffic) and tell my kids I couldn't get the pullets, and they were so disappointed. Laura should seek professional help and take a course in customer service, at a minimum. I will be reaching out to the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, and letting them know of our experience. Update (7/7) - we told the story at one of our 4-H meetings over the weekend, and everyone was shocked. Several of them are livestock breeders and said it's possible the chickens we wanted were sick or deceased, and Laura realized that after we already left. We were recommended a different farm, and we got our healthy, beautiful chicks from there the next day (for 1/3 the price Laura was charging), and encountered zero issues.

Writing to save you the heartbreak of losing your chickens. Purchased 4 chicks from Laura in March,…read more3 have died of Mareks. Now the others in our flock are starting to show symptoms. I've talked to others who have had the SAME issue with their chickens from her. Even the vet was aware of this being a consistent problem with her farm. I trusted that she had so many positive reviews yet many in our community have had the same experience as me. Her chicks brought a disease into my healthy, thriving little flock and I'm heartbroken. Do not, I repeat, do not, buy your chicks from here.

Very nice proprietors. The farm is kid-friendly with chickens, goose, goats, and bunnies. The…read morestrawberry fields are spacious with lavenders and other flowers framing them. No overwhelming crowds and parking is along the road. We spent about an hour and half picking berries and wandering around.

I was worried they wouldn't be open on a Wednesday for Strawberry picking even when Yelp said it…read morewould be. I tried calling, but wasn't able to get a hold of anyone. Thankfully they were open because it was a bit of a drive to get here! The farm owner was friendly and helpful. The strawberries were also very delicious and large compared to the ones I picked from Brentwood. I'd definitely return in the future.

Braeburn Fuji Gala…read moreGolden Delicious Granny Smith Gravenstein McIntosh Pink Pearl Pippin Red Delicious Why exactly am I naming these apple varieties you ask? Prior to my visit to the Hillview Farm these were the only 10 varieties of apples I could name if someone were to ask. For somebody like me who eats more apple pie and drinks more apple juice than I do eating fresh apples I thought 10 was pretty impressive. Then I met Joe Stabile. Joe and his wife own an 18 acre apple orchard in Watsonville. When they bought the property in the early 1980's 4 varieties of apples were grown at this 450 tree orchard. Joe and his wife now have over 200 varieties of apples on this orchard and nearly 4200 trees! Yup, shows you how little I know about apples! For the Stabiles it's all about custom grafting and creating new varieties of apples. Many of the varieties found in the Hillview Farm orchard are not found anywhere else. Joe, a former IBM engineer who retired in 1992 to become a full time farmer, is a man of great patience. He loves the art of taking different types of apple trees, grafting the branches together and playing the waiting game on how successful the graft will be. Some grafts take years to develop. That doesn't faze Joe though; no matter how long it takes the bottom line is that the apple has to taste good. Overall taste is the deciding factor in deciding whether a custom graft is successful or not. For our recent farm tour the Stabiles went all out and pre-picked three big baskets of delicious Gravensteins, sweet Sansas and tart Pink Pearls for our group to enjoy. Judging by how quickly the fruit in the basket disappeared I'd have to agree with my fellow farm visitors that the Pink Pearls were our favorites for its beautiful color and delicious taste. Joe showed us the heavy machinery that sorts his apples by size. Then he showed us his juicer and talked about his juicing techniques. Joe and his small staff presses 80 to 100 gallons of juice per day. He bottles the juices immediately and stores the fresh pressed, unfiltered juices and juice blends in freezers then sells the product in assorted sizes at local farmers markets. Joe also sells dried apples at the farmers markets. He uses an industrial sized dehydrator and gave us delicious samples of both the Golden Delicious and Fuji varieties to sample. Our group was already in apple heaven when we stepped out into his orchard to look at the fresh fruit trees and examine some of the grafting techniques used. In addition to apples the Stabiles harvest dozens of varieties of pears, plums and persimmons plus other tree grown fruits. The different sizes, shapes and colors of the apples in the Hillview orchard were mind-boggling. I took tons of photos but after awhile they all started to look the same to me. The Stabiles didn't seem to have that problem though. They knew exactly which variety was which and even gave us data on the fruit's characteristics when we asked. True apple geniuses those Stabiles are. After our tour we gave the family some business too buying up fresh pressed apple juice, and homemade apple products such as preserves, syrups, dressings and butters. Hillview Farm products are sold at three local farmers markets. They are at the Vallco Farmers Market in Cupertino on Fridays, the Danville Farmers Market on Saturdays and the Jack London Square Farmers Market in Oakland on Sundays.

Hillview Farm has all kinds of fruits on display. not so interested in them…read more what caught my eye was the apple cider. locale: JLQ farmers market (9/7) drink: apple cider(32 oz, $5) -100% pure preminum-cold pressed, -marked "plain" assumed it meant nothing added -so sweet! like drinking candy. hopefully no sugar added 4.5 stars

(Ryan Reynolds voiceover)…read more The vibe is pure Americana apple orchard in Watsonville! Clearview Orchards is a fabulous family destination! Andrea warmly greeted us! She is so nice! We were guided to the large parking lot! Mr. Mel Larussa, the proprietor himself, gave us a quick orientation and gave us directions to have the greatest apple picking time of our lives! Mrs. Larussa went out of her way and provided fresh cut samples of the Honeycrisp! Wow! Delish, sweet, firm. Like my fave IG models. Gonna leave with a bunch of Fujis and Pink Ladies! Had to nab several jars of the fantastic Sage clear honey! Nectar of the gods! Thank God for the birds and the bees! And before headed out we had a mini picnic on the veranda with picturesque views of the Clearview orchard! The apple bread was divine! But the apple juice and frozen popsicle apple juice was the absolute best! Apple juice as God intended! Delectably sweet and refreshing! (So good that busloads of Stanford students have blocked the road before! So make an appointment and reserve a time!) What a great time! But one of the best parts is just hearing the laughter of families and children enjoying America! Gonna make some apple pie tonight! Thanks Mr. And Mrs. Larussa and Andrea! Will be back! Woohoo!

Apple of My Pie…read more Family-run 7.5-acre farm that operates a U-Pick for two months out of the year (Sept-Oct) and specializes in apples, squash, and honey. The Good: *All the trees planted on site are dwarfs to make life easier on everyone, especially kids. *Certified organic farm *Play area for young kids *Staff were all friendly and very helpful *Accept CCs to purchase *Reasonable pricing *Baked goods (e.g., apple turnovers, apple bread), lavender products, and fresh-pressed Apple Juice available for purchase. *They'll provide you with bags to collect your harvest, but you are also welcome to use your own reusable grocery bags. The Meh: *Wasn't a fan of their "Apple Butter," as it was more applesauce than apple butter. But, with that said, it was a fine applesauce fwiw. *Make sure you bring a cooler with ice if you plan to buy juice unless you're going straight home. I forgot to bring ours like a dummy. :( *No pet policy, so leave Fido at home. *Weekends only. Check their IG (@clearvieworchards) for updates. The Ugly: *Make sure you purchase a parking ticket/reservation ($7) ahead of time, or you'll be SoL. This started during Covid, and they're continuing it due to helping them control the number of visitors. TLDR: Fun family-friendly activity to do on the weekend and teach kids where their food comes from. Highly recommended.

I have friends who live in Corralitos so I've been coming here for many years periodically on a…read morevisit. The House marinade of the skirt steak is probably the most popular, but they have a few other flavors. This time I got the hanging tenders in the House marinade. I will report back after cooking. I also usually get a couple of sausages like the smoked cheesy Bavarian, hot pepper Jack, and a chicken Italian w/mozzarella. Yeah it's obvious I like the cheesy ones. You can't really go wrong with any of the meats. I haven't tried a deli sandwich there yet but they gotta be good. Jerky too. Top place to go get yourself a treat for BBQ gatherings.

We LOVE Freedom Meat Lockers and were excited to try Corralitos to see how they compared. We got:…read more - Thai marinated chicken breasts - Honey mustard chicken breasts - 4 kinds of sausages: apricot, kobasica, andouille, and linguica Unfortunately, they weren't our cup of tea. Everything was saltier than Freedom Meat Lockers. The only thing we liked was the kobasica. Fyi: They don't have a bathroom. They'll direct you to the porta potty at the park across the street. Also, for some reason, they kept making mistakes when ringing us up so check your receipt.

We love stopping by the apple cart on our sidecar tours. We toss a few bucks into the til, a few…read moreapples in a bag and eat one right there on the side of the road. The apples are crisp, juicy and super tasty.

How about 'em apples? They are in season right now!…read more We were driving down the road, and seen such an abundance of apple trees along both sides, covered in ripe fruit, in all shades of the color palette between green and red, tons and tons of apples on, and under the trees, we just had to stop. So here we are, at the Bella Farms stand, where things seem pretty simple. You could pick up your apples from the already collected pile inside the box, or you could climb the ladder up the nearest tree and get yourself some fresh ones. Several nearby trees had ladders installed on them actually. Self serve $4 per bag this year. Pretty good if you ask me! Thank you, Chuck & John Bella from Bella Farms, for keeping your apple orchards and taking care of them! We appreciate your work and access to fresh crispy fruit.