Pick your own blueberries at Blueberry Bay Farm

July 5, 4:28 PMNew Hampshire Coastal Travel ExaminerAmy Kane

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  Ripening blueberries  (Photo by Amy Kane)

Red, white and... blueberry?

Fourth of July was the official start of blueberry season at Blueberry Bay Farm, with the very first berries ripening from sour green to sweet shades of dark violet and dusky indigo blue.

The 12-acre farm is located on Depot Road in Stratham, a few hundred yards from the Great Bay Discovery Center, and just a few miles from Portsmouth and the New Hampshire coast, making it easy to combine berry harvesting with other activities.

MAP     Directions

Pick a pint or two on the way to the beach; add fresh blueberries to your cooler for a picnic lunch. Visit the Discovery Center, go kayaking on the Great Bay, and stop to pick a healthy snack or dessert on the way home. (No synthesized chemicals are used on the farm.)

Fresh greens like spinach, lettuce and kale, a variety of herbs, raspberries, beets and other fruits and vegetables are available to pick. With 1300 bushes, blueberries are the highlight of this three-generation family farm, which was named a New Hampshire Farm of Distinction in 2005.

Blueberry Bay Farm is a great place for kids to visit, roam the rows of bushes with a bucket for berries, and learn a little about where their food comes from. A free Children's Story Hour is held outdoors every Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. in July and August.

Blueberries are native to North America. Good for your eyes, heart, and brain, these small berries are low in calories but big on health benefits - see World's Healthiest Foods: blueberries.

Tip: Blueberries are still ripening right now and pickers will have to work to find ripe berries. But new ones ripen every day. The height of the season is late July and early August. Check in at the farm stand to get a bucket and ask any questions you may have.

Blueberry Bay Farm is one of the NH Coastal Travel Examiner's Hidden Gems of the NH Seacoast

PYO blueberries in the New Hampshire Seacoast

Applecrest Farm Orchards
133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls
926-3721
www.applecrest.com
Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily

Monahan Farm
2 South Road, East Kingston
642-8186
Hours: Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Blueberry Bay Farm
38 Depot Road, Stratham
580-1612
www.blueberrybayfarm.com
Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 7 days a week, except Wednesday and Saturdays closed at 5 p.m.