U-Pick at Lodi Blooms
It has become a yearly tradition for miles, my mom, and I to go to Lodi blooms here in Lodi for their annual U-pick Cherry event! We were so lucky last year that, even in the height of a pandemic, Lodi blooms was able to find a way to create a safe cherry picking event complete with social distancing, masks, and more. And we're so lucky that this year we get to go back again, this time with my mom and I being fully vaccinated and with one less worry on our shoulders!
Two weeks after Lodi Blooms has their presale event, their farm is open to the public for personal picking. They section off different areas of the farm for people to go and grab as much as they can handle. This year, it Tulares, Corals and Bings, but it looks like they'll possibly be doing Lapins later. Costs did feel like they went up, so if you've gone in the past, be prepared. We had 3 filled 5-lb buckets and they ran us about $100 for 18.5 lbs. Check out their Instagram for how to enter and exit the area. I'll be sharing my go-to recipe for a 4 serving cherry pie next week.
For the first time since we've started going, their entrance area now how staggered registers and is setup as a mini market for their new line of goodies. When you go to pay for your cherries, you'll now see a few tables scattered about with cherry pitters, flavored water, tea towels with their logos, and their new line of balsamic vinegars! My mom and I each grabbed a bottle of their cherry balsamic, and I grabbed their 6-cherry pitter. After hand-pitting all my cherries last year, I made sure to grab these immediately! The bottles of balsamic will run you about $22, and the pitter $20. We were glad to be able to help out the local business we love going to each year and supporting them expanding into new products! Hopefully, their new line of products are a success and they'll be able to add on more next year, too!
The event started on Friday, May 21st at 9:00 AM. There's no charge for parking or entrance. They'll be open today and tomorrow from 9AM to 3PM for more U-Pick fun, so get out there before all the good ones are gone!
