San Diego Mom - Carmel Valley

This place was a little bit of a disappointment for the ride.  As compared to Bates Nut Farm, this is much smaller.  Fewer rides, smaller physical location.  Strawberries are available to pick, and for very little ones, they have cut them so they are easy to pick and the children don’t harm the plants.

http://www.victoriasgardens.us/ 

I think though if you are going out there for strawberries as we were, the Carslbad Strawberry Farm is a better option. And much closer for north County families.

http://www.carlsbadstrawberrycompany.com/ 

Here’s another location in Ramona this time.  Apples and Pears.  Seems like a nice place though I haven’t been here yet.

http://www.julianapples.com/Index.htm 

We may give this one a try this Fall.   

I haven’t been out here to any of their locations, but this seems like a well run company and a lot of fun for the kids.  The locations in Del Mar and Carsbad are super convenient too.

http://www.carlsbadstrawberrycompany.com/ 

They’re open at least as of this writing 7 days a week from 9-6.   

We tried this out last year (2006 in October) and loved the place.  Tons of apples, nice picnic areas.  Overall a really nice experience.

http://spencervalley.com/pages/1/index.htm 

Call ahead about availability of apples.  We’ve twice tried to make it out there, delayed a week and found the apples were gone.  Its worth it to go the week-end they say they are ready for the public. 

I visited this place last year with a group.  The location has a lot to offer, its a sprawling place with animals, rides, a nice store, pumpkin patch, etc.  I wouldn’t put it in the category of top places for fruit picking - though I guess for pumpkins their special events might be nice.

https://www.batesnutfarm.biz/index.php 

My guess is its a better place for Halloween and Christmas with all the activities they have. 

This web site tries to pull together all the locations that are available for a variety of fruits and let you know if they are out of business.

http://www.pickyourown.org/CAla.htm 

From my experience, you need to call the numbers, check on availability and ripeness and be flexible about the date you go.  But, if you do all that, these are great fun for children and adults alike.