Don O'Connor is a long time enthusiast for "Pick Your Own" fruits and berries. Years ago, while living in Massachusetts, he wrote to over 500 Mass. farms asking which of them offered "pick your own." Over 5O farms responded, and Don wrote a booklet, a guide to picking in the Bay State, called "The Pick of Massachusetts." It was a best seller of it's type (it was the ONLY booklet of its type...) Did you know that you could "Pick your Own Popcorn" in Massachusetts? True! One Massachusetts farm grew corn for popcorn! You picked it by the ear, took it home, dried it out, and sure enough, popcorn right off the ear. No kidding! Anyway, Don is now a full time resident (and real estate Broker) in New Hampshire, and in 2008.. after a few years to rest up... he has resumed his picking frenzy. '08 was a banner year for blueberries and apples. Don picked so many of both, he discovered a new talent he did not know he had, and began making blueberry pies to give to neighbors and friends, particularly those folks who had bought homes from him in the recent past. 
Right away a problem developed. He cleaned his wife Alice's kitchen out of Pyrex pie plates by mid-August (most of the few pie plates she owned disappeared to homes of the pie recipients, and on average it took a week to get each plate back.) Soooo to preserve domestic tranquility, Don had to hustle out and get more Pyrex plates. El-Problem-O It turns out the plates are $4 or more each, and it looked like Don needed a factory load of 'em. So a bit of creative thinking revealed you can buy them (used) at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores El-Cheap-O, say 99 cents each. Don now has 14. Wife is happy. Pies going out like mad. The places Don picked blueberries in 2008... they are haaaaappy. Pie recipients very happy. Everybody is verrry happy. Don has blue fingers up to his elbows.... He put on a few pounds himself, but that was just a hazard of the occupation, or a fringe benefit... call it either way. One pie recipient, no amateur at word crafting himself, wrote Don a "Thank You Note" declaring that their home had been named an "Officially Appointed State of New Hampshire Safe Haven House for Wayward Pies." They got a second pie. Don also happens to appreciate the Plymouth Town Library, where he bestowed a number of pies in the summer and fall of '08 for staff fullfillment. They are happy... Don seldom has to pay late fee fines now. (Just kidding... he pays... boy does he pay... for the bag loads of books he just can't seem to part with on time...) Don learned quite a bit in 2008, including this: you can pick choice apples for $XXXX$ a pound, but you can gather "drops" (yes, a bit bruised here and there, but IDEAL for pies) for XX a pound. Don LOVES XX a pound, and the apple pie recipients rated the pies XXXXXXXXX. Everybody happy again. Don is learning more and more, and has decided to share his hobby in 2009 with anyone in New Hampshire who enjoys "Pick Your Own". Now, he will dedicate this space on this website... at no small cost... "but what price for pick your own?" he asks.... for "information sharing" on this most pleasant pastime. If you share his enthusiasm, you can email donrealtor@roadrunner.com with hot tips on places to go, people to see, berries to pick. Ahhh yes, a dream come true. The "information highway" straight to the berry patch. Gotta love this.... At last, a use for the internet to truly benefit mankind... All jocularity aside, here's why Don truly enjoys "Pick Your Own" and suggests that more people get outdoors and go to a New Hampshire farm or orchard this year: 1. It supports the local economy. Goodness only knows where apples and berries come from at the grocery store. Don't get us wrong, we have no objection to the good folks of Chile, but if we can support fellow Granite State families who work very hard to produce food for us, what's not to love about this idea? 2. When you pick your own, you get the best quality berries and fruits. Let's look at the grocery store for a moment. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out there is ONE CRITERIA for the fruits and vegetables on the shelves there: the product has been bred for LONG STORAGE LIFE WITHOUT SPOILING. All other considerations are secondary...flavor, aroma, ripeness. Have you ever bought a pear at a grocery store? You could play two rounds of golf with one. OK, one round. Peaches? Fgettaboudddit... When you go to a NH farm or orchard, you get the best ripe plump juicy fruits and vegetables you can imagine. Don also learned in 2008, you can pick... well... lets save that for item three. 3. Farms offer more variety than you can get at markets. Again, NH farmers oversee the varieties they raise, and they know the fruits will be fresh picked, not subject to the sharp pencil whims of grocery chain store buyers. Here's a secret Don learned last year. "Ginger Gold" apples are outstanding, only available a short time, and you won't find THEM at any grocery store. "Ginger Gold" apples alone are reason enough to get enthusiastic about "Pick Your Own." Look for them this Fall. You'll be glad you struck that GOLD! 4. This is just plain a "Darned good wholesome activity." Get out, get some fresh air, enjoy yourself at a NH Farm... hey folks... noooobody is paying Don to say this. He just plain believes it! Too bad more folks don't take kids along to enjoy this (as long as the farm is O K with children picking). Gets the kids out too. Isn't this a world of improvement from sitting home watching TV, or taking the kids to the drive-thru window of a fast food restaurant for semi-plastic processed vittles? Let's get serious. Visiting a farm... getting fresh, wholesome food from a farm... is about this much XXXXXXXXXXXXXX better. 5. Maybe make some new friends! Email Don at donrealtor@roadrunner.com Maybe you'll strike up an email conversation on this most worthwhile subject... don't some folks call this "Locavores" or something like that... encouraging buying food locally to save transportation costs and to support your local economy? You might even meet Don picking some time this summer. Got a blueberry or apple pie recipe to swap? You'll have Don's attention... So there you pretty much have it. Don may include a variety of "NH grown" products and events on this site, not just PYO. Maple products, flowers, Christmas trees you cut yourself. This open letter written during a snowstorm on March 9, 2009. But soon the fields and orchards will be green with the promise of a new and hopefully abundant harvest brought to all of us who appreciate it by the very hard working men and women who still practice the noble calling of agriculture in New Hampshire. Our thanks to them! 
Don O'Connor May 23, 2009 The self-proclaimed "Pied Piper of Pick-Your-Own" (Don O’Connor is a U-Pick and NH Farm enthusiast, and farm real estate agent. See “The Pick of New Hampshire” at www.donoconnor.com ) Don is a graduate of Bridgewater (Mass) State College, majoring in English and Creative Writing and took advanced journalism courses at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL. Don now lives in Holderness, NH, with wife Alice, and sells real estate, including homes and land in the Lakes and White Mountains Region, and FARMS state wide. If you want to buy or sell a farm, call Don. He makes a concession to modern living by carrying a cell phone while in the berry patch, at (603) 254-8887 For sale today! Organic farm at Wentworth, New Hampshire. Don and Alice O’Connor are proudly associated with Tara and Richard Gowen, of Gowen Realty, Plymouth, New Hampshire, who've listed a great opportunity for anyone wanting an organic farm. You can see more about it at www.gowenrealty.com Call (603) 968-7211 and ask for Don or Alice O’Connor today for a farm tour. Yes, bring the kids if you have them, or the neighbors kids! Want to sell YOUR farm, orchard, roadside stand business? Call Don today to start a discussion to help you harvest the rewards for a lifetime of working the land! Now...2009... is a better time than usual. Ask Don why... Want to buy one? Let's start looking together! 
Strawberries are the first "Pick Your Own" crop in the Spring. Watch for notices here on where and when to pick. “March 12 2009 While not exactly "Pick Your Own" it is now maple sugaring season in New Hampshire. Later this month there will be an open house event at many NH farms which produce maple syrup, a once a year treat. See more about it at www.visitnh.gov or click this link http://visitnh.gov/best-time-to-visit/maple-sugaring.aspx” As you know, I am a serious pie baker, and I went to the store recently to buy "fresh cranberries" to make a cranberry/apple pie. To my surprise, you can't get them! Apparently they are available in stores only Sept. to Jan or so. Next year I'll know! Here's a tip to remember. If you need Pyrex pie plates ( and by golly who doesn't?) you can get them used at Goodwill and Salvation Army store. I found one the other day at the St. Vincent DePaul Society Store in Laconia (it is not far from the Laconia Airport... I had driven by there many times and did not know it was there! Big place, lots of stuff, neat clean, orderly, well displayed. Cheap price, I love "cheap price"... it is my second favorite price next to free... Speaking of pies, where can you buy ready-made pie crusts at a reasonable price? Can you let me know? email me at donrealtor@roadrunner.com I have seen them for about $2.50 a box (2 crusts in a box) to as much as $3.79 for a box. Both of those prices seem crazy to me. Would be great to find them for mush lower price some place. If I find out, I will let you know here at this site. The countdown to the start of the "Pick-Your-Own Season" is now about 60 days (as of May 1, 2009) in New Hampshire. Got some good tips on where to pick? Let me know by email! These photos taken at Suroweic Farm, Sanbornton, NH. March 23, 2009 They offer pick your own strawberries, blueberries and many varieties of apples. Photos above and below, strawberry fields, March 23, 2009 
Blueberry bush, March 23, 2009 Yes, that is still snow on the ground! Contact information: Surowiec Farm
53 Perley Hill Road
Sanbornton, NH 03269
603-286-4069 Meanwhile, this email from Michael Phillips, of Lost Nation Orchards; he does not have P Y O but does have apple trees for sale. Contact info below: Hi Don, The tree list might interest your circle, and driving up from Plymouth isn’t that daunting, relatively speaking. So sure, that would be kind of you. But my orchard operation itself, as regards the fruit, is not pick your own. Maybe someday, but definitely not now while the trees are mostly young. Thanks.
Michael Michael Phillips Heartsong Farm Healing Herbs 859 Lost Nation Road Groveton, NH 03582 603-636-2286 Michael Phillips This from Michael's website, used by permission Our trees will generally have been in the ground here for two years. The primary rootstock is Bud.118, which is a super-hardy, vigorous Russian root that will produce a precocious (early-to-bear), free-standing 85% size tree. The variety selection will vary with each new season, being entirely related to which apples caught Michael's fancy when grafting scionwood two years prior. The descriptions given on the Tree Order Form list are much too brief so please give Michael a holler if you want to know more about a particular variety. Ripening dates given are based on North Country experience.  |  A lesson on planting basics comes with every Lost Nation tree! |
 Hard to believe this is the beginning of many apple harvests to come, eh? | We accept paid orders in advance to reserve the trees you want, so the sooner you get in your order before spring comes, the better the odds of getting the trees you want. Come early spring, Michael will contact you when the ground is ready for digging and thus transplanting trees. The goal is to do this as early as possible so dormant root systems do not undergo transplant shock. You will be encouraged to have proper tree holes dug before you come to the farm to pick up your freshly-dug trees. Please understand that we are definitely not shipping trees anywhere! Coming to the farm is actually a bonus as Michael will spend time with you talking about tree planting basics. We are a small local nursery making tree available to the wider community in northern New Hampshire and northeastern Vermont. |
Available Trees for Spring 2009 Lost Nation Orchard @ Heartsong Farm 859 Lost Nation Road, Groveton, NH 03582 Our trees have been in the ground here on our farm for two or more years. The primary rootstock is Bud.118, which is a super-hardy, vigorous Russian root that will produce a precocious (earlyto- bear), free-standing 85% size tree. The other root MM.111 is similar. Feel free to ask me about the traits of these selected varieties, as the descriptions here are much too brief. Ripening dates given are for the North Country. We are taking paid orders now to receive these trees here at the farm next spring. Michael will contact you when the ground is ready for digging come spring and thus the trees can be picked up for transplanting to your place. The price is $30 a tree for the large trees (indicated by an asterisk), $25 per tree for average nursery size. Send a check made out to ‘Heartsong Farm” ASAP to reserve the varieties you most want. I’ll let you know if a substitution needs to be made. Variety Available Your request Notes Wealthy 7 sprightly; ripening in mid-September Shizuku 2 Mutsu twin, large, flavorful yellow-tan apple, vigorous tree; early October Gala 2 aromatic flesh; late September Brock 2 red apple developed in Maine, superb quality, slow-growing; early October Ashmead’s Kernal 2 very special heirloom; late October Sandow 2 juicy, crisp flesh; late September Opalescent 3 splashes of carmine; late October Black Oxford 3 and cooking qualities, late October Beacon 6 sauce, heavy-bearing; early September Redfree 2 and juicy, early September Lost Nation Mac 2 McIntosh strain that stands up to scab; sweet-tart w/ thin skin, late September Akane 8 resembles Jonathan, mid September Cortland 2 New England’s favorite pie apple Red Gravenstein 2 Snappy white flesh, early September Macoun, Honeygold, Sekai Ichi, Spigold, Spartan, Jewett, Reinette Simerenko, Melrose, Roxbury Russet 1 each ask me, okay? * all-around homestead apple, red and* orange-red dessert apple; crisp,* russet-type with unique, nut-like flavor;* + 1 seedling of Northern Spy; red fruit with* + 4 think spectacular color: dark red with* + 3 purple apple from Maine; good eating* Juicy, mildly sub-acid eater; great* scab-immune variety, light flesh is crisp* Bright red, outstanding dessert apple;Contact Michael Phillips at 603-636-2286 or michael@herbsandapples.com with questions Lastly, a few pix to show that Spring is Just around the corner. This sugar house in operation, end of March, at New Hampton, NH 
Do you have this problem? When I pick blueberries, it is very time consuming to remove the small stems from the berries. (It is time consuming because I am cleaning 10 to 20 pounds of blueberrries, not just 1 pint.) Do you have a suggested method to remove stems? I emailed this question to Butternut Farm, who has a variety of good food processing tips on their website http://www.butternutfarm.net/ The owner, Mr. Giff Burnap, was kind enough to respond with this reply: Don, I believe the answer to your stem problem is that you may be picking unripe blueberries. If the berry is truely ripe the stem should stay on the plant when it is pickied. Now blue berries can be deceiving. Once they turn completely blue (this includes the stem side of the fruit) they are not truely ripe. They need to hang on the plant for at least 3-5 more days to continue to ripen. During this time they will swell up, so what I tell our customers is to look for the berries that are not only totally blue but are swollen up in comparison to the others on the bush. Now blueberries hang well on the bush, so if you can let them hang for 7 days all the better. they will just be that much fatter and sweeter. Thats the best answer I have and it is fine if you would like to quote me on your site. Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm in new hampshire farming!! Giff Burnap |
Anyone else, (grower or P Y O enthusiast) who'd like to weigh in on this question is cordially invited to email me at donrealtor@roadrunner.com and thank you. Meanwhile, a big thanks to Giff. You can find him at: Butternut Farm 195 Meaderboro Road, Farmington, NH 03835 (603) 335-4705 They have an excellent website, including a most informative section on "How you can have fruit all year". Take a look at butternutfarm.net today ! I'd say that reply earns Giff my humble yet ever gratifying "The Pick of New Hampshire Honorable Mention Award" for today! On another note, I visited Hackleboro Orchards recently. You'll find them at Hackleboro Road (actually Orchard Road) in Canterbury, NH 03224. I met one of the owners, Mrs. Linda Weiser, and it was a pleasure to speak with her. My guess is that you'll really enjoy doing business here. They have a most impressive orchard and PYO setup for a variety of apples, fruits, berries. Find them at http://hackleboroorchards.com If you are looking for pie apples, as I was, they still have them as of April 23. A nice selection at that! Call or visit them soon. Why buy apples at a supermarket, where the product may have come from South America for all we know, when you can drive direct to the farm and support our New Hampshire neigbors who work VERY HARD at what they do, to put food on our tables? (I feel genuinely serious about that!) This is the same reason I use a wood pellet stove. The wood fuel to heat my home is providing paychecks to many American workers, instead of oil revenues flooding the coffers of some Middle East sheik... that drives me crazy.... Anyway, where was I, Oh yes, Hackleboro Orchards, a beautiful NH farm. Call them to see if they still have apples... like the nice ones I got this week... and visit them soon, or at least put them on your calendar as soon as P Y O season starts! Their number is (603) 783-4248 That's all for now. Don O'Connor "The Pied Piper of P Y O in New Hampshire"! Oh, one last thing. I am working on a design for a blueberry P Y O picker that will be much faster and more efficient than having a small plasic pail hanging around your neck. When I go PYO blueberry picking this year, I want to get many pound of berries in a relatively short time. So I am designing a device to make the process go much faster, while still taking extreme care to do no harm to the blueberry bush or underground irrigation system. But I don't want to re-invent the wheel. Any grower or P Y O enthusiast who can offer suggestions on fast and effcient blueberry harvesting, I am all ears! Please email me. Many thanks! Don Photo below, Don O'Connor 
This page updated June 23 2009 The start of the PYO season...for strawberries.... is just about here. Anyone with news of picking conditions is invited to email me at donrealtor@roadrunner.com and I'll post details here for any farm in the state! |