Vollmer Farms

Every year when strawberry picking time rolls around, there are always a few of our readers that are searching for the perfect place to pick some organic strawberries.  Last year, we checked out Whitted Bowers Farm for you, and this year we finally headed out to check out Vollmer Farms.

What it is:  Vollmer Farms is a farm located in Bunn, NC which is about an hour drive away from S. Durham, probably a little closer from parts of N. Durham.  They specialize in offering organic u-pick fruits in the spring and have a great pumpkin patch in the fall.  In the fall, they open up their Back 40 playground complete with a bounce pillow and a huge tunnel slide.

This time we were there to pick strawberries.  The nice part was that we went in the afternoon, and lots of the area strawberry patches were "picked out" of berries by that point.  However, Vollmer told us that they rarely get picked out of berries.  We headed out to the field where we picked up our baskets.  They don't charge by the pound, they charge by the bucket, so make sure to fill up those buckets as full as you can!

The rows were full of big, juicy berries and before we knew it our baskets were full.  My boys are actually getting old enough, at almost 4 and almost 6 that they can fill part of a basket themselves before they wear out.  Once back at the farm building with our berries we paid.  At $17 a bucket they were more expensive than a lot of the other patches, but you were paying for organic berries.  After paying you could look around the store for more goodies, buy some homemade ice cream, or play in their small playground.  My boys enjoyed playing in the real airplane cockpit, the wooden pirate ship, and the tubes for rolling around in.

What we liked:  We liked how they had a small playground, so that the boys could have fun after the berry picking was done.  The shop and homemade ice cream was also a nice touch.  Plus, I felt like their organic berries were bigger and juicier than some I have picked.

What we would change:  The two biggest drawbacks, of course, were the distance and the price of the berries.  But if organic is what you're looking for, then this is a great stop!

Photos:

(a view from the strawberry patch)

(a view of the shop and playground)

(more playground)

(strawberry patch fun)