Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms

We are city folks. Maybe that’s why we think going to the farm is an adventure. Yes, there are farms in Southern California and we went to Tanaka Farms for a little bit of strawberry picking.

Strawberry season is normally April through June, although at Tanaka Farms, you might be able to get some specialty pickings all year round. This is one of the best places to go for strawberry picking; there’s so much to do and see, including land to explore, rows and rows of sweet fruit to pick, recipes to taste, and animals to pet (please note that some activities may not currently be available due to Covid guidelines). It is right down the street from my alma mater, UC Irvine, although I never went when I was in college. Life is circular, and I’m so happy to return now that my kids helped me find this local treasure.

If you’ve been following our blog for awhile now, you’ll know that I love taking my kids to farms, farmer markets, and anything that let’s them learn about where their food comes from. Since May is peak strawberry season in California, it was the perfect time to take our boys to see how the strawberries they eat at home end up on our table.

Did you know that California is the largest strawberry crop producing state, and supplies more than 80% of all strawberries we eat in the U.S.? The California Strawberry Commission says that “every strawberry plant is hand-picked approximately every three days. This is the time in which it takes for strawberries to complete their cycle of turning from green to white to red. There is no storage of fresh strawberries. After picking, they are rushed to coolers where huge fans extract the field heat. Then they are delivered to supermarkets across the country via refrigerated trucks.”

The start of this process, the picking during harvest, is what the Lay family set out to see.

Please Note: These photos are from our visit in 2019, currently Tanaka Farms is still open for strawberry picking with masks and social distancing in place.

At Tanaka Farm in Irvine, there was so much more to do! The rascals got to ride in a wagon, learn where the fruit comes from, and sample plenty of sweet, ripe strawberries, all before we even picked one off the vine. Even though AJ didn’t eat any of the fruit, Ben was able to “save” his big brother the burden of finishing those delicious red bites (they are his favorite, after all). Once we were done, there was even a petting zoo for them both to enjoy. We highly recommend making a day out of it and exploring our California strawberry farms!