Cherry season opens in Brentwood. Top 20 U-picks — Part 1

May 16, 7:58 AMSF Culinary Travel ExaminerWanda Hennig

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Gabriela Bain has fun picking cherries in Brentwood.

If you frequent the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco on Saturday mornings, you’re probably a fan of the produce of Rick and Christie Knoll’s Tairwa Knoll Farms and the produce and pastries of Al and Becky Courchesne’s Frog Hollow Farm. (And please note — whether you’re a mildly enthusiastic culinary traveler on a visit to the city, or a ravenously enthusiastic one, this Saturday morning farmers market is an attraction you will not want not miss.)

Knoll Farms and Frog Hollow have an avid following of discriminating foodies and chefs countrywide. (Watch my posts for more on them.)

Why I mention them now is because they farm in Brentwood — dismissed even by some of the people who live right there and in nearby Antioch as all track homes and "big-box" retail. But drive to the outlying areas and into nearby Knightsen and Oakley and you come upon what’s left of old Brentwood — the Brentwood that began as a farming community in the late 1800s and that’s known for its produce, mainly cherries, corn and peaches.

It's One of The Bay Area's Best Kept Secrets

Each year, starting right now, there is a small window of time to enjoy one of the best-kept-secret delights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Namely, cherry-picking in the Brentwood. If you head east from San Francisco, drive for a little over an hour (when traffic is obliging) and get beyond the “new Brentwood” developments, there’s a feast of pleasure waiting to be plucked from trees bowed with abundance.

Below is a list of 20 Brentwood region U-Pick cherry farms. Please go online to www.harvest4you.com for more on these, a full listing of Brentwood’s delicious bounty and U-Pick options, and to download a map. (Some of the places are tricky to find even if you have the address. The map helps.) And call the farms you’re interested in when they suggest that you do this.

I have visited and picked at Pease Ranch, Maggiore Cherry Ranch, Bacchini’s Fruit Tree and Farmer’s Daughter. At each we were given plastic buckets to fill. While we picked, we were welcome to sample. Yumm. The contents were weighed at the end. The per-pound price seemed astonishingly low, in no small part because picking was such a treat, I felt I should be paying them for the pleasure. I have listed them alphabetically. Go explore, find your favorite and please come back here and share your experience.

Bacchini’s Fruit Tree (P/U)
2010 Walnut Blvd.
925-634-3645

This family operated pre-picked and U-Pick fruit stand has been growing premium quality fruits since 1945. “Each year we are open during May and June to offer our fresh fruit, grown in our orchard, for you to pick!”

U-Pick and pre-picked fruit: Sweet Cherries: Brooks, Utah Giant, Bing, Rainier (white); Sour Cherries, Montmorency.

Farmer Ken Hagan has purposely produced “low” varieties of pluots, nectarines, peaches, berries and cherries for virtually ladder-free picking, with much of the fruit easy to reach from the ground. Children are especially welcome. Look for the little yellow fruit stand on the corner of Walnut Boulevard and Concord Ave. Check Web site for daily updates, directions and availability of fruits in season.

Open daily May and June: (when fruit is available): 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Chavez U-Pick Cherries (U)
South side of Marsh Creek Road, Brentwood.
925-625-3994

U-Pick cherries starting in late May. Call for availability and directions.

DC’s Extraordinary Cherries (U)
22012 Marsh Creek Road
925-516-4495

U-Pick cherries: Bing, Sweet Anne, Rainier (White), Van and more.
Unique European style planting makes them easy to pick. No ladders to climb. Lots of off-street parking. Toddlers and handicapped can pick here.
Open every day including Memorial Day 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during season.

The Farmer's Daughter Produce and U-Pick Farm (P/U)
NW corner of Walnut Blvd. and Marsh Creek Road
925-634-4827

U-Pick and pre-picked
Picked cherries at produce stand.
Weekends 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Opens mid-May. Call for more info.)

Freitas Ranch Cherries (U)
555 Hoffman Lane, Brentwood
925-634-5461

U-Pick Coral Champagne cherries with plenty of low branches for young pickers. Open weekends starting approximately mid-May, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Check Web site for updates on the season.

Laird Ranch (U)
Located on Sellers Ave. between Chestnut and Sunset.
925-634-4822
925-998-5769

Pre-picked and U-pick Bing cherries.
Open in late May from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Call for more info.

Lopez Ranch (P/U)
Orchard Lane, Brentwood
925-634-4433

U-Pick and fresh picked sweet Bing cherries, white Rainier cherries, sweet white peaches, freestone peaches, plums and nectarines. Open daily during season.

Maggiore Cherry Ranch (P/U) and Maggiore Ranches (P/U)
Two locations: Walnut Blvd., Brentwood and Camino Diablo Road, Byron
925-634-4176

Pre-picked and U-Pick cherries. Winner of the 2006 Black Diamond Living “Best Place to Taste Cherries” award. Mmmm — Bings, Brooks and Corral Champagne cherries to ooh and aah over as you choose your bough, fill your bucket and taste the sweet succulence as you pick. At home you might use them to top a sundae, fill your pie or best of all, to gorge on until you’ve had your fill.

Estimated picking times May 14 to June 10.
Maggiore Cherry Ranch open daily: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during season.
Maggiore Ranches open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm during season. Call first.

Mangini Farms (U)
7865 Brentwood Blvd.
925-372-0743

Located in Downtown Brentwood next to Napa Auto Parts and across the street from Taco Bell.
U-Pick: Bing, Rainier and Coral varieties. Also available in large bins. Open weekends in season 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Nunn Better Farms (U)
Sellers Avenue between Sunset Road and Chestnut Street
925-634-2148 or 925-634-6173

U-Pick cherries starting late in May.
Located on Sellers Ave., Brentwood.

Please see Part 2 for more farms and Brentwood in brief.

Photos by Wanda Hennig