Pick-your-own strawberries at farms in Ontario open for the season this month

Pick-your-own strawberry farms in Ontario are reopening for the summer this month, and there are many within an hours drive of Toronto.

There are few more wholesome ways to spend a summer day than among the strawberry bushes, filling your baskets and bellies with sweet, red treasures.

As the temperatures in and around Toronto begin to heat up, it's a reminder that strawberry season is right around the corner — and farms all over the province are getting ready for their 2024 crop.

In Caledon, Downey's Strawberry and Apple Farm is preparing to reopen their strawberry fields to the public on June 17 on a walk-in only basis, with baskets priced by volume. You can also hop on a tractor or wagon ride.

Barrie Hill Farms plans an annual strawberry festival, which this year will be held from June 29 until July 1 — around the same time that they'll reopen for berry picking, but the exact date for that is still to be determined.

Head to Brantford, and you can swing by Brantwood Farms to fill a 4L container with berries for $17. While the exact opening date is weather-dependant, they should be opening around June 15.

Caledon East's Rock Garden Farms is estimating that their berry picking season will kick off around June 20, along with Applewood Farm Winery in Sunderland, who emphatically encourage you to heap your baskets high with strawberries.

Niagara Region Tigchelaar Berry Farms says they'll be opening their pick-your-own berry fields sometime between June 15 and 20, though the exact date has yet to be determined by the weather in the coming weeks.

Even though farms are planning their comebacks for the season, there's no telling what Mother Nature could have hiding in her back pocket that could speed up or slow down the strawberries' growth, so check back regularly before planning your trip.