Something I never knew people could do was pick strawberries from strawberry farms as an activity. I knew people could pick apples from apple farm but it never crossed my mind we can do the same with strawberries!
On a cloudy Saturday in May, it seemed like a fun boyfriend-girlfriend thing to do. Normally we just stay at home watching a major backlog of GLEE episodes that just seemed to draaaag on and on, but a change of scenery is always a good thing. So we drove about an hour to Irvine where Tanaka Farms is located. I was SO excited to start picking some strawberries but as soon as we get there, boyfriend Joseph here accuses the place of being cheesy, marketing to little kids who are there for the various tours and farm picking.
Did we two adults end up having a great time at Tanaka Farm’s strawberry picking tour that seemed to have been designed for kids and their parents?
Yes. Yes, we did.
On the tour, we were being chauffeured around in a wooden wagon attached to a tractor. Can we say ‘ye-haw!’? I elbowed a few kids here and there out of the way to get a seat right in the front of the wagon for a prime photography view.
For the first forty-five minutes, we rode around in the tractor touring most of the farm and receiving some samples of the various veggies that they grow.
Carrots, celery, corn, green beans, and then the sweet spring onions. I love onions, btw. I love spring onions. But I’ve never eaten them raw, yet the tour guide suggested eating them raw! I asked Joseph to document me eating the onion, haha, and although my face expressions suggest it’s not very good, these onions were SO good. So sweet. The aftertaste, though, dictates that a breath mint is required afterwards.
And finally we get to pick some strawberries! Last weekend, the heatwave occurred and I read Yelp reviews that strawberries were sparse. This week, there was no shortage of these deliciously ripe strawberries.
Everyone receives a plastic carton to fill up the strawberries with. We were given roughly fifteen minutes to browse the lanes to pick the strawberries. The carton MUST be able to close before we depart to finish the tour as one carton per person is the limit. However (and this is the best part) we are free to eat as many of their organic strawberries on the field as we can! Woot woot! At this point, Joseph had a ton of fun scavenging and munching, haha.
Did you know that strawberries takes 1 week to grow? That’s so fast, isn’t it? Visiting this field inspired me to start a little garden of strawberries, especially if I can get fresh ones every week!!
Do I sense a new project? … hmmm!
More info on Tanaka Farms
Address: 5380 University Dr, Irvine, CA 92612
Cost for tours: $17/person
