Review #17 for 2019…read more Grandma Jo's is a great stop for u-pick fruit outside of Boise! Stopped by last week, and my friends and I spent almost an hour picking blueberries. The blueberries were sweet and delicious. Grandma Jo taught us to pick the dark blue/deep purple berries and to avoid the reddish ones that were not yet ripe. She provided buckets for us to use, and when we were done, she weighed our take and charged by the pound. When we got home we ate them fresh, and an uncle made some blueberry jam for later. So good! Grandma Jo was a delight, and the service was great. Prices were lower than other farms in the area. She also had Bing cherries, rainier cherries, and pears, though the pears weren't ready yet. Apricots were on their way too. I'd love to visit Grandma Jo's again the next time I'm in the Boise area.

It's a hidden charm. This farm is very nice and they have abundant rainier cherries! The trees are…read morewithin the range for kids to pick too!

Introduced to Richardson Family Farms' remarkably good organic strawberries as available in 2 lb…read more flats in early September at the Boise Co Op by friend Carl Y and his wife, my husband and I found these fragrant, perfectly ripe, super delicious gems to be the best strawberries of the season. That they were local and organic and harvested so late in the summer intrigued us enough to seek out Richardson's in Emmett and pick our own. WORKING MEDITATION There is a sort of meditation involved in being in a place like this doing the work of picking berries. The only sounds were the wind rustling plants, the click of grasshopper wings in flight, the buzz of yellow jackets seeking out the fruit over-ripe and the upbeat voice of brother talking to sister in the next field as they picked berries for the market. Add in the aroma of the berries as warmed by the sun, it was a pretty sweet experience all around. THE DRILL The drill here to pick is pretty informal. When they see your car pull in, one of the folks who work on the farm (we met both the owner and his son) will ask if you're there to pick, give you a box for the berries and point you in the direction of the plants with the most ripe fruit. The owner even gave my hubby a strawberry picking tutorial, how to recognize the perfectly ripe ones from those that seem ready but aren't quite yet. When you're done, they'll weigh your boxes and tell you what a ridiculously little amount of money is owed. WEEDING FOR BERRIES The owner told us for folks who want fresh berries but who feel they cannot afford to buy them, he is happy to trade their work to help weed the rows for berries in return. Nice barter system it seemed to us. Work for food. THANKS TO FARMERS My strawberry picking days are in the rear view mirror due to limits introduced by MS but I had a lot of experience in my youth and enjoyed supervising my hubby's first time efforts! He thought it was fun for an agricultural excursion day and enjoyed every minute of his couple of hours. But he also recognized it would be back breaking to pick berries for a living. We both took a moment to tell the Richardson Farm family members who were doing that work, this is truly a family operation in the fields as the owner has more than a dozen children,, how much we value being able to simply swing by the Co Op to buy their fine berries because of their work. It was a verbal hug of America's family farmers of whom we think good thoughts all the time. CO-OP AVAILABILITY If you're planning on buying via the Co Op the berries should be available there at times into October. The folks we met at the farm went out of their way to say how much they appreciated having the Co Op as their partner. THIS N THAT: 1) PRICE: If you want a true appreciation for what a fair price is on these flats of berries at the Co Op, venture out and pick for a couple of hours and consider the cost to the farmer to organically grow them, pick them, package them and transport them to market. Then consider the cost of the Co Op to put them up for sale. 2 lb. flats at Co Op are $7.95, so just under $4.00 / pound. If you compare to the most commonly available CA Grower (Driscoll) for organic berries pound for pound, these locals are a lower cost. If you pick your own at the farm, they cost a mere $1.50 / pound. Factor in the cost of travel to get to Emmett and the opportunity cost for your time, that Co Op price is a bargain too! 2) ACCESSIBILITY: Hard packed, gravel covered pathway. Neither porta-pot is accessible. 3) OTHER FRUITS AND VEGGIES: Sometimes available. Yesterday they included cherry tomatoes, Armenian cucumbers and Italian prune plums. 4) CONTACT INFO & GETTING THERE: If you plan to venture out, the farm is a little tough to find. The best way to zero in is via their website linked here. http://idahoberry.wordpress.com/ 5) THE OWNER: Worth saying he is an eccentric type of man. He has run for Governor at least once and his personal, legal name is Right to Life. You are not going to meet Old MacDonald if you visit the farm.

Lance, the owner, is very passionate about his orchard! He greets customers with a huge smile and…read morehandshake. There is also a calendar on the website that shows when each fruit is ready to be picked. When I picked cherries two weeks ago, each tree trunk was color-coded so I knew the variety of each tree. There's also fruit that is already picked and available for purchase. The day I went there was a hot dog food truck there. Perfect lunch after two hours of picking! Please support Gem Orchards! With all the new homes being built, our orchards are disappearing!! https://gemorchards.com/

I love this orchard! The caretaker of the orchard that grows the fruit really knows what he's doing…read moreand he really enjoys taking the time to inform the customers about all of the positive benefits of picking your own fruit, as well as the best ways to do it to get the best results. You really can't beat that level of care and detail to your satisfaction as a customer and your experience and it's why I'll be back to Gem orchard again and again!

Best fruit in the valley! I really enjoy picking my own fruit. The orchard has such a great…read morevariety of all fruits. The owners are very personable and helpful with questions on all varieties of fruit they sell.

they have a lot of wonderful fruit when they're open they have low hours now. many different kinds…read moreof fruit canned goods and bread from Gaston's.

Such a cute orchard!!! Came to pick some apples and left with about 20 pounds of golden delicious…read more They're also pet friendly! Brought our puppy with us. Stopped by the main shop to grab buckets then we had to drive down the road to the actual orchards. They also have cider and other goodies. Such a sweet family highly recommend for anyone and everyone! We'll be back for sure during other fruit seasons!!

Had a great time picking cherries! Super friendly. Easy to get to and fun to do with the kids…read more Thanks!

This family farm is such a place of peace and tranquility. Walking the grounds is so enchanting…read moreand calming. I feel so grounded in this space. I highly recommend a visit.

See Courtney M's review and I'll add to it to see if I can help her out for more info about what…read moreled to the spate of 1star reviews for this place. I get why people posted them, although they may have had no experience with the farmers, these are farmers, who own and operate Red Chair. The nutshell is this. Red Chair is in Eagle, a relatively small community and the one I live in too, and they hold an annual Lavender Festival just after July 4th every year. This year it was advertised that Old State Saloon would be a part of it, apparently as a vendor for food and drink. Old State is a watering hole in downtown Eagle and the owner has made no bones about his anti-gay and hard right wing perspectives, MAGA hats abound and he has hosted things like the "Hetero" event in downtown Boise last week. Thankfully almost no one showed up there, but let me tell ya', in Eagle people go to his Old State location. I was in there when they first opened, not knowing at that time the owner's orientation, but it was plenty clear pretty fast and I do not support them nor do business with any entity that is in league with them. We consumers vote our values with our wallets. When people found out Old State was involved with the lavender festival at Red Chair, the lambasting of Red Chair started. But Red Chair has cut ties with Old State to do the food and beverage service after the Old State owner's bigoted, homophobic remarks were published in connection with press coverage of the recent downtown Boise event. If you take the time to read the news article here, you'll see this farmer / owners was sort of unaware of the depth of the Old State owner's issues and was just happy someone was willing to help out providing food and beverage vending at the lavender festival. Learning of the remarks and having his Lavender Farm business targeted by people who thought he was in synch with Old State's owner, he told them he does not want them to participate. https://www.kivitv.com/eagle/red-chair-lavender-cut-ties-with-old-state-saloon-after-racist-comment-at-bars-hetero-awesome-fest

The family that owns and runs Purple Sage Farms has a wonderful back story and does a remarkable…read morejob of providing herbs, salad greens, edible flowers and, in season, culinary peppers of all kinds to home cooks and eateries in the Boise Treasure Valley. In the last few years they are raising lambs too. (See PS at end for their info about the lamb breeds and how they are raised.) As avid home cooks who are passionate about supporting local farmers and using local sourced ingredients, my husband and I have been Purple Sage fans since we discovered them on a visit to the Boise Farmer's Market in 2013, before we moved to the area. In the ten years we have lived in the area Purple Sage fresh and dried products purchased at our local CoOp or the Boise Farmers Market in season, have been used in our kitchen on several days during every week for many dishes. Once we discovered Purple Sage was raising lamb, our favorite protein to cook when we use animals although we are vegetarian cooks about 90% of the time, we added that to the line up. We recently learned that Purple Sage will deliver (two days a week, I think) in the Treasure Valley and that includes lamb as well as all other items. As a cook with growing disabilities (I have had multiple sclerosis since college days) delivery sounded great to me to avoid a trip to the CoOp or Farmers Market. Delivery is free with an order of $25 or more and a modest delivery fee otherwise. Yesterday we tried the delivery service for the first time and it was such fun to have abundance of gourmet mix salad greens, arugula and fresh herbs including flowering thyme, chives, cilantro, peppermint, tarragon and dill delivered to our door along with a couple of lamb shoulder steaks and a half leg roast. (As with all local farmers who sell animal proteins, the lamb is frozen after butchering.) We are grateful for this family and the work they do to help nourish us! Here is a link for others who want to learn more about how to buy from Purple Sage Farms. https://www.purplesagefarms.com/shop PS - Here is what they say about their lamb: "We raise Katahdin and Dorper breeds, hair sheep known for their delicately flavored meat. These are smaller stature sheep that shed their wool--super practical for our farm. Our lambs are raised and finished on grass and are harvested at 90-100 lbs. We send animals for slaughter weekly April to December."

From the owner: For 30 years Purple Sage Farms has specialized in growing a wide range of organic herbs, greens and…read morevegetables. Today, that has expanded to over 250 varieties of crops ranging from the familiar and traditional to the obscure and exotic, whether they are culinary, medicinal or both. Purple Sage Farms greens and salad mixes change with the seasons and include a wide variety of colors, flavors, and shapes. Among all of the crops, nutrients are high and flavors are prominent. Our artisan products are crafted to perfection at the on-farm commercial kitchen. Purple Sage Farms herbs, spices, greens and vegetables are thoughtfully grown and proudly certified organic on our family farm in Middleton, Idaho.

The location has a new big building for the store there! Very clean and well maintained inside. I…read morewished I took pictures of all the fresh fruit for retail sales there. I bought a 10 Lb box of apricots that are picture perfect The young man at the cash register was nice and helpful so I'll be back. They have fall events there too! Please see my pictures of the apricots I bought.

Marina and Sean Rowley and their family are owner-operator orchardists and farmers who moved their…read morebusiness up from Utah to this location in Caldwell (the Sunnyslope growing area) in about 2012 to provide more opportunity for their family to work together on a farm. I heard Marina say once something that was roughly this; farming is good for the family and family farming is good for the world. I'm paraphrasing, but I wanted to say "Amen" to that and also to thank her because it certainly is good for the local community. ACCESSIBLE FARM STORE FOR PRE-PICKED FRUIT: It was buying their dried sour cherries from other vendors in the area, both Peaceful Belly's farm store and McIntyre Farm store that introduced me to Cherry Hill. Visiting the farm for the first time in maybe 2019, they had only portable tables set up in a deep gravel over dirt lot and given I have mobility disabilities (I have had multiple sclerosis since college) that make it beyond difficult to walk through that, I was disappointed to not be able to get from parking to the product on tables. Fast forward a few years and they now have built a small farm store on site and although they still have that gravel over dirt lot, they did observe ADA minimums to pour a cement apron on one side of the store with a single parking spot there which makes it possible for all people to get into the farm store on solid surface and shop for sour dried cherries , sour fresh cherries, cherry juice, apples, pears, apricots, nectarines and peaches in their various seasons. U-PICK OPTIONS: U-Pick is offered through all the various seasons. Check Cherry Hill's Facebook page or Web page or call them to be sure they are open when you want to do and what is growing to be picked. DID YOU SAY DONUTS?: the surprise for us as we stocked up on dried cherries, apples, pears and O'Henry peaches a couple of weeks ago was to learn they have fresh made cinnamon sugar donuts at some times. We managed to buy the last half dozen, how they are sold, and came home to share them with the men who mow our lawn and we all thought they were great. SPECIAL EVENTS FALL AND SPRING: There is a corn maize and pumpkin patch in the fall from late September through October 31, so it is going on as I write this review, with special activities for children. In the Spring they hold a cherry festival. With cherry trees and the other fruit trees in blossom at different times, it really is a beautiful place to visit then. NEIGHBORS TO VISIT ON A DAY TRIP: *If you're in Caldwell to visit Cherry Hill, I recommend a visit to Peaceful Belly Farm which is also home to a Cidery. They serve lunch and dinner in their on site cafe on some Thursdays through Sundays during the Spring into Winter. Check their website for more information. It is very special to eat there, you can walk through the farm, and they have an onsite farm store selling their produce and that of neighbors, like Cherry Hill. Owners Jodie and Clay Erskine are so creative in offering community engagement opportunities. https://www.yelp.com/biz/peaceful-belly-farm-caldwell?osq=peaceful+belly *You may also want to pay a visit to McIntyre Pastures which pasture raises all their cattle, pigs and chickens and they have a farm store to sell their proteins - including eggs that are the best I have ever used - and other local farm products, like Cherry Hill dried cherries. https://www.yelp.com/biz/mcintyre-pastures-farm-caldwell?osq=MCINTYRE+FARM