Tis the season to have berries and locals now have the chance to 'pick-your-own' taste of summer at Berry Lands.
The berry farm by Connings Food Market is one of the few places where the public can pick berries and this year there is a small window of opportunity to head down the vines for boysenberries, raspberries and karaka berries.
Conning family spokesperson Ben Conning says the public will be able to pick berries from 20 December until Christmas Eve, and quite likely again between 27 December and New Year’s Eve.
Last year most of the berries had been picked by Christmas, but this year the crops are later in maturing, mostly due to a cooler period at flowering.
“The crop looked really good up until the wind, for both quality and yield.”
Strong winds that battered the region in mid-December took its toll on all the berry crops, but there has still been plenty to pick from the vines.
This year the berry farm will not be selling real-fruit icecreams, but Ben says they will still be available outside Connings Food Market.
