Where in Alaska to find pick your own farms and orchards for fruit, vegetables, pumpkins and canning & freezing instructions!

This month's notes: May 2013: The cool weather has delayed blooms and slowed growth by a couple of weeks, but don't miss strawberries: they started in most Southern areas in late April, and in late May up north. Click here for strawberry facts and picking tips, and this page for easy strawberry jam making directions. Blueberries will come in June in most areas. Of course, Florida, southern Texas, and other very warm areas are already picking both crops! See this page for hundreds of easy canning and freezing instructions/recipes, canning equipment guide! Also make your own ice cream - see How to make ice cream and ice cream making equipment and manuals. Then see each state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops. Organic farms are identified in green!  See our guide to local fruit and vegetable festivals!. Please tell the farms you found them here - and ask them to update their information!!

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Alaska U-Pick Farms and Orchards, sorted by county

Remember: ALWAYS call (or follow the link to the farm's own website, if the name is a blue link) to confirm the information before you go! They may close, run out or change events, times, etc. without notifying me!

These are the only PYO's I could find in Alaska.  Does anyone have any first-hand information about them or others?

Aleutians East Borough

Anchorage Borough

Bethel Census Area

Bristol Bay Borough

Denali Borough

Dillingham Census Area

Fairbanks North Star Borough

  • Ann's Greenhouses - vegetables, berries
    780 Sheep Creek Road, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709-6128. Phone: 907-479-6921. fax: 907-479-4200. Email: anndolney@yahoo.com. Open: 9 am to 6 pm on Monday to Saturday and Sunday from noon till 6 pm. Great harvests available for purchase during August and September! We have many (you-pick) vegetables and berries available then! We have tomatoes, variety of squash, radishes, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, cabbages, turnips, kale, kohlrabi, carrots, peas, beans, peppers, eggplant, strawberries, raspberries, and monster pumpkins (to 298.5 lb.) to name a few items!

  • Clair's Cultivations - apples, crabapples, plums
    1364 Esro Road, Fairbanks, AK 99712. Phone: (907) 488-6446. Email: lammers@alaska.net. Directions: 4.5 miles Chena Hot springs road, Just outside of Fairbanks. Click here for a map. Pick your own.
    Comments from a visitor on August 28, 2008:     "Love it. " (Suggested by a visitor, ADDED: August 28, 2008)

  • Nugget Farms - apples
    100-118 N Cushman St, Fairbanks, AK.  Phone: (907) 455-4721.

Haines Borough

Juneau City and Borough

Kenai Peninsula Borough

Ketchikan Gateway Borough

Kodiak Island Borough

Lake and Peninsula Borough

Matanuska-Susitna Borough

  • Birch Creek Ranch - Black Currants, Red Currants, Strawberries, Raspberries, Service Berries
    Mastadon, Talkeetna, AK 99676. Phone: 907-733-1090. Open: . Daily, Around 9 am until dark, 7 Days/week Mid July -Late August. Directions; north of Anchorage, Alaska. Organically growing vegetables and herbs; One outhouse available
    Comments from a visitor on August 15, 2009:     "I love this place. I have had the chance to work in the greenhouses during the late winter and early spring, and I love picking berries here in late summer. I am originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up picking blackberries every summer; I missed that; thank goodness for this place and my new black berry: currants. Just picked 30 pounds with a friend last week, we had a blast." (Suggested by a visitor, ADDED: August 15, 2009)
  • Pyrah's Pioneer Peak Farm - vegetables
    4350 S. Bodenburg Loop, Palmer, AK. Phone: (907) 745-4511. Alternate phone: (907)745-3557. Email: info@pppfarm.net. Directions: Click here for a map. Open: see this page for their hours. Click here for their picking updates and pricing page. They have a Fall Harvest Festival in September, dates are posted on their website. (UPDATED: August 13, 2008)
    Comments from a visitor on November 17, 2009: "I've been going there since I was a teen. My children have grown up knowing of the delights of picking veggies at Pyrah's. The growing season is short up here and I'm not much of a gardener but love the results of course. We highly recommend the experience. You can make a day of it. Combine it with a trip to the State Fair or visit the Reindeer Farm up the road too too. Have fun I know we do."
    A visitor writes: I wanted to let you know about the wonderful people I spoke to at Pyrah's. I didn't even know we had farms like this up here. Pyrah's is a PYO, open Mon 9-5, Tues-Saturday from  9-9, closed Sundays. They offer field trips for kids, just call ahead to schedule... only $3 per child!

Municipality of Anchorage

Nome Census Area

North Slope Borough

Northwest Arctic Borough

Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area

Sitka City and Borough

Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area

Southeast Fairbanks Census Area

Valdez-Cordova Census Area

Wade Hampton Census Area

Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area

Yakutat City and Borough

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area

Farm Bed And Breakfasts

Kenai Peninsula Borough County

  • Berry Patch Bed and Breakfast - 3 total rooms, Price range from $115 to $135, Large rooms, Small fridge in rooms, Fresh farm breakfasts, Fresh eggs, Mountain views, Hiking trails, Fishing nearby, hunting nearby, boating nearby, skiing nearby, snowmobiling nearby, horse riding, fitness/health club nearby, Free farm tours for overnight guests, Within an easy drive to an Interstate road, children welcome, No pets please, No smoking allowed, PYO fruit, Help feed the animals, Organic farming, Honeybee hives onsite, chickens,
    14247 Victor Drive, Seward, AK 99664. Phone: 907-491-0164. Email: hosts@berrypatchbnb.net. Directions: Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa/MasterCard, Discover, AmEx. (ADDED: March 25, 2010)

Other activities:

  • Seward Alaska Fishing - Offering world-class fishing and is one of the best Alaska has to offer. The world record sport caught Pacific Halibut was caught in Seward on June 11, 1996. weighting an astounding 459 pounds

 

Home Canning Kits

Features:


* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set!
* Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning.
* Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter.
* A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection.

This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! There is also s simple kit with just the canner and rack, and a pressure canner, if your want to do vegetables (other than tomatoes). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!
 

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
 

     

Lids, Rings, Jars, mixes, pectin, etc.

Need lids, rings and replacement jars?  Or pectin to make jam, spaghetti sauce or salsa mix or pickle mixes?  Get them all here, and usually at lower prices than your local store!

GGGet them all here at the best prices on the internet!

 

This page was updated on
Ball Enamel Waterbath Canner, Including Chrome-Plated Rack and 4-Piece Utensil Set
Don't forget the Ball Blue Book!

Home Canning Kits

Features:


* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set!
* Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner
* Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter.
* A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection.

This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! There is also s simple kit with just the canner and rack, and a pressure canner, if your want to do vegetables (other than tomatoes). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!
Ball Enamel Waterbath Canner, Including Chrome-Plated Rack and 4-Piece Utensil Set

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
 

     

Lids, Rings, Jars, mixes, pectin, etc.

Need lids, rings and replacement jars?  Or pectin to make jam, spaghetti sauce or salsa mix or pickle mixes?  Get them all here, and usually at lower prices than your local store!

Get them all here at the best prices on the internet!

 

Picking Tips

[General picking tips and a guide to each fruit and vegetable] [How much do I need to pick? (Yields - how much raw makes how much cooked or frozen)] [Selecting the right varieties to pick] [All about apple varieties - which to pick and why!]  [Picking tips for Vegetables] [ Strawberry picking tips] [ Blueberries picking tips]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

[ All About Home Canning, Freezing and Making Jams, Pickles, Sauces, etc. ] [FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems] [Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!] [Free canning publications to download and print]