Jone's Family Farms: Strawberry Picking, Shelton, Connecticut
Ages and Grades: 6 (1) and 4 (Pre-K)
Sometimes we have gone with a mother at home group and with a homeschool group but you spread out when you're on the field and you can''t really spend time with the people you're with and then they want to leave earlier or later than you do. I recommend going just as a family unless you need that group peer pressure to actually make the time to get there and just do this awesome thing.
This strawberry picking in Connecticut happens in June (call their Pick Your Own hotline to see what fields are open for what fruit that day). They take you out on a truck to the fields which are ripe and ready for picking. You pick your own then pay for them by the pound.
If you go when it's sunny it usually is hot and humid and you die and wonder how people can do that job for a living. You had better wear your sunscreen and maybe also bug repellent. If you go when it's overcast it's better and we've even gone in light rain and cool weather which made the work easier and more enjoyable, even though you are crouching in dirt that's turning to mud. The berries are so fresh and delicious that as soon as you are home you forget how hard it was and are happy you went.
Thanks to homeschooling we had freedom in our schedule that allowed us to pick strawberries on quiet weekdays. The place can be a zoo on weekends when most people go. With more days available to go you can pick the day whose weather best suits you.