2024 Chicago and Northeastern Illinois Vegetable U-Pick Farms and Orchards - PickYourOwn.org

Vegetable U-Pick Orchards in Chicago and Northeastern Illinois in 2024, by county

Below are the U-Pick orchards and farms for vegetables that we know of in this area.

Not all areas of a state have vegetables farms that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!

Remember to always check with the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go - or call or email them if they don't have a website or Facebook page. Conditions at the farms and crops can change literally overnight, so if you want to avoid a wasted trip out there - check with the farm directly before you go! If I cannot reach them, I DON'T GO!

PLEASE report closed farms, broken links and incorrect info using the "Report Corrections" form below.

New! As inflation remains high, see this page for reliable (tested) brands of generic canning lids at lower costs, and cost-saving measures for getting fruit and vegetables and home canning.
 If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

New! Road tripping and camping is a great way to have a fun, safe and inexpensive family trip. The national and state parks and monuments are open, and campgrounds usually cost between $10 and $40 per night. September to November is the best camping weather.  See our new website Road Tripping and Camping.com for tips, tricks, guides, checklists and info about parks, monuments and other places to visit.

New! We just went live with our latest website, FunFactoryTours.com - As they name implies, you can find a fun factory tour, including chocolate, automobiles, historical forts and sites, famous buildings, Active Federal facilities even fun geology: like fossils and volcanic areas

DeKalb County

• Go-Ro Fresh U-Pick Vegetables - beets, broccoli, carrots, herbs or spices, kale, onions, peppers, summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes, other vegetables, watermelons, Honey from hives on the farm, farm market, porta-potties
  34565 Route 23, Genoa, IL 60135. Phone: (224) 764-8821. Email: linda@GoRoFresh.com. Open: Opening day for U - Pick Vegetables will be August 21st; 2020; We will be open till Mid October or the first hard frost. Directions: We are located 4 miles south of interstate 90 on Route 23. Located at the corner of Birch Road and Route 23. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. U-Pick vegetables open the middle August till the middle of October;(UPDATED: August 10, 2020)
• Walnut Grove Vocational Farm - beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, flowers, herbs or spices, onions, peas, peppers, raspberries (Spring, red), summer squash, strawberries, tomatoes, other vegetables, Other fruit or veg, restrooms, weddings and wedding parties, school tours
  33600 Pearl Street, Kirkland, IL 60146. Phone: (815) 793-0950. Email: nutmeg214@gmail.com. Open: U-Pick Strawberry patches typically start in mid-June. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard.
  Walnut Grove Vocational Farm Facebook page. Use this link to sign up: https://bit.ly/2N67dxx. Pick-your-own started in 2018. For everyone's safety: U-Pick is open only to adults & supervised children 12+. (ADDED: August 03, 2017)

McHenry County

• Grace Farm Studios - Closing permanently after the 2024 season, Uses natural growing practices, aronia berries, beets, currants (red), currants (black), elderberries, gooseberries, saskatoons, other vegetables, Honey from hives on the farm, Fresh eggs, gift shop, porta-potties, farm animals, school tours, group reservations
  2719 Franklinville Road, Woodstock, IL 60098. Phone: (815) 206-9958. Email: Studiohost@icloud.com. Open: UPDATE for 2024: this farm will close after 2024; Federal holidays except Christmas and Easter; for PUBLIC visitation; Please check our Facebook or Instagram site for emergency changes in hours, and to learn what is currently in season for picking. Directions: For your convenience, Grace Farm Studios is listed on Google Maps. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, PayPal, ApplePay, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AmEx.
  Grace Farm Studios Facebook page. . Alternate Phone: (815) 790-8895Fax: N/A Asparagus season is typically end of April to first week of July; haskap (honey berries) are usually the last two weeks of June; gooseberries are typically July through August; red and black raspberries first fruiting is typically July through August; second raspberry fruiting is September 1 through first heavy frost; elderberries and aronia come September through October; Vegetables July - October;. We use natural practices, but are not yet certified OrganicWe do not charge per person or per carload. We are a biologically closed farm - please do not bring your pets. We do not allow pets to use the bathroom on our grounds. (UPDATED: August 07, 2024) (ADDED: January 17, 2021) A visitor writes on August 07, 2024: "I visited in Woodstock, IL this year in June and they advised that they were selling their farm and retiring this year. Their website says the same thing. At the time, they were allowing visitors and selling produce at a discounted price."

Will County

• Rainbow Harvest Hydroponic Greenhouse & Farm - herbs or spices, peppers, tomatoes, other vegetables, Other fruit or veg, Turkeys (organic, not-hormone-fed), Fresh eggs
  P.o.box 428, Channahon, IL 60410. Phone: 815-530-8366. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. Rainbowcrop.comUPDATE for 2021, Their website is gone and there's nothing else about them that is current on the internet - I presume they have closed. Does anyone have current information, are they still offering pick your own or are even open? If so, please write me. year - round by appointment only; Please email or call to schedule an appointment

 

Vegetable PYO

Vegetable Picking Tips, Recipes and Information

Pick veggies that are firm and free of blemishes.

Canning, Freezing, Drying, Preserving and more!

Below are links to pages with easy and reliable directions about how to can, preserve, freeze and make other goodies fromveggiess.  Some of these require a Pressure Canner to prevent potential spoilage and food poisoning, due to the low acid content of the food.  For others, you can use a water bath canner OR a Pressure Canner.  I've noted what's required for each, below, following each entry, with
W for water bath,
P for Pressure canner, and
W, P for either may be used!

• Canning asparagus - P
• Canning fresh shelled beans - P
• How to can beets - P
• How to make home canned carrots - P
• How to can corn (hot pack method) - P
• How to can corn (raw pack method) - P
• How to can creamed corn (hot pack method) - P
• How to make canned greens, like Spinach, Turnip Greens, Collards, Kale, Swiss Chard
• How to can green beans, yellow beans, snap beans, broad beans, etc. - P
• How to make canned dried beans and peas (from kidney beans, peas, lima beans, broadbeans, chickpeas, pole beans, etc.) - P
• How to Make Homemade Canned Baked  Beans With Tomato or Molasses Sauce - P
• How to Make Homemade Canned Baked  Beans With Back, Pork or Ham and Tomato or Molasses Sauce - P
• Mixed vegetables - P
• Mushrooms - P
• How to can peas (English peas, Crowder peas, blackeye peas and purple hull peas) - P
• Boiled Peanuts! Now Southerners who move to other parts of the country can make their own home-canned boiled peanuts to eat later or give away as gifts
• How to can peppers (removing the skins)- P
• How to can peppers (leaving the skins on) - P
• How to can Hot peppers in oil - W
• How to make fresh basil Pesto (only fresh and frozen - this can't be home-canned)
• How to make canned Pineapple - W
• How to can potatoes - P
• How to home-can pumpkin (in a cooked, cubed form) and why you shouldn't home-can the pureed forms. Note: Pumpkin is difficult to can safely - it is a low acid food, so that rules out open water bath canning immediately. Pressure canners can be used, but according to the health authorities (like the National Center for Home Food Preservation) only if the pumpkin is cubed, rather than mashed. I usually just freeze the cooked pumpkin! - P
• How to make pumpkin pie from a whole, fresh pumpkin - the easy way! for fresh or frozen use
• More pumpkin recipes (roasting seeds, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, etc.) - fresh or frozen use
• Rhubarb - how to can rhubarb - W

Pickled vegetables

• Pickled asparagus  - W, P  
• Pickled beets - W, P
• Branston pickle relish (an English tradition)
• Pickled Brussels Sprouts (or Cauliflower) - W
• Bread-And-Butter Zucchini pickles - W, P
• Pickled green beans - W, P
• Pickled Dill beans - W, P
• Pickled cabbage - W, P 
• Pickled carrots - W, P
• Southern Chow-Chow (also called Piccalilli) - W, P 
• Pickled corn relish - W, P
• Pear relish
• How to Make Pickled Eggs (to store in the fridge!)
• Spiced Green tomatoes
• Pickled Green Tomatoes - another pickled green tomato recipe, this one sweet
• Pickled garlic - W, P -  (photos coming!)
• Hot relish (Dixie Relish, Fall Garden Relish)
• Mixed  vegetable pickles (cauliflower, peppers, onions, celery, cucumber mix) - W, P
• Mustard beans (pickled mustard beans)
• Pickled dilled okra! - W, P
• Olives
• Pickled pearl onions - W
• Pickled onions (red or white) - W
• Pickled peaches (also nectarines, apricots, etc.) - W,P
• Pickled peppers - W, P
• How to make sauerkraut - homemade and naturally fermented! - W, P
• Pickled Three-Bean Salad - W
• Pickled watermelon rind - W, P
• Zucchini pickles (dill) - W

Canning tomatoes (in water bath canners )

• How to can tomatoes using a water bath canner - W
• Diced, chopped or crushed tomatoes - W
• Bruschetta - W
• Tomato sauce - W
• Tomato paste - W
• Barbecue sauce (BBQ sauce) - W
• Chili sauce from your own tomatoes and peppers - W
• Diced, chopped or crushed tomatoes - W
• Tomato Preserves- W
• Tomato salsa - W
• Spaghetti sauce - without meat - W, P
• Spiced Green tomatoes- W
• Pickled Green Tomatoes - W - another pickled green tomato recipe, this one sweet
• Ketchup.. or if you prefer... How to make catsup - W, P
• NEW! SUPER-EASY homemade ketchup recipe - W
• Salsa from your unripe, GREEN tomatoes! - W
• Tomatillo salsa - W
• How to make roasted tomatoes, boiling water bath canner version - W

Canning Tomatoes in Pressure canners

• Canned tomatoes using a Pressure Canner - P
• Baked  Beans With Tomato or Molasses Sauce - P
• Canning your own chili con carne (with meat) - P
• How to make roasted tomatoes, pressure canner version - P
• Spaghetti sauce - with meat  - P
• Stewed tomatoes - P
• Tomato soup or tomato-basil soup - P
• Tomato sauce - P
• Tomato juice - P
• Tomato juice, like V8 - P

Freezing Tomatoes

• How to freeze tomatoes from you garden or the farm; for that fresh taste this winter!
• Space-saving prepping and freezing extra tomatoes from your garden to can later

Drying tomatoes

• NEW! How to make Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Food drying basics and principles
• How to dry your own herbs
• Food Dehydrators - models, specs and pricing information

Ripening green tomatoes in your garage or basement

If you want to bring your green tomatoes indoors before a freeze in the Fall, and ripen them, see:

• How to ripen your green garden tomatoes indoors in the Fall and Winter.

And if you'd like to start you own tomatoes from seed (you can save a small fortune and grow the heirloom varieties you like) see this page for easy directions for growing your own tomato plants from seed.

• General Directions and guides about home canning, preserving, safety, tips, etc.)
• Home canning safety
• FAQs
• Equipment and supplies

Many more recipes and directions:

• Canning anything that can be safely canned at home!
• Juices: Canning fruit and vegetable juices
• Freezing directions
• Pie fillings (making home canned pie fillings)
• Sauces, Salsas, Syrups, Fruit Butters and Chutneys (from applesauce, apple butter, to salsa, syrups, etc, can any sauce)
• Broths and Stocks
• Soups - canning vegetable and meat soups at home (see this page for tomato soup)
• Pickling - more than just cucumbers
• Drying / food dehydrating
• Ice cream, gelato and sorbets

 

Other Local Farm Products (Honey, Horses, Milk, Meat, Eggs, Etc.)
(NOT pick-your-own, unless they are also listed above)

• Farm markets and roadside stands
• Local Honey Finder
• Local Meat, Milk and Eggs
• Venues: Farms, Wineries, Orchards for your event, wedding or party
• Easter egg hunts
• Children"s consignment sales
• Fruit and vegetable festivals
• Winery tours and wine tastings
• Horse rides, stables, lessons, trails
• Maple Syrup farms and sugarworks
• Bed & Breakfasts on Farms, Wineries, Ranches and Orchards
• Pumpkin patches
• Corn mazes
• Zombie Paintball venues
• Christmas Tree Farms & lots
• Environmental resources
• Consumer fraud information
• Wholesale food sources
• Resources for Farmers