wise monkeys abroad

berry picking in tasmania

Posted on January 20, 2014 Updated on January 20, 2014

Today, we ate some delicious raspberries that we had bought on the weekend from the local supermarket and it made us think of berry picking in Tasmania.

In Tasmania, there are a few farms that you can stop at to pick your own fruit.

We stopped at two; Sorrell Fruit Farm and Hillwood Berry Farm. Both slightly different in their approach to fruit picking.

(1) Sorrell Fruit Farm

It is only about 20 minutes north east of Hobart. To our surprise, when we arrived, there was an entrance fee. We had visited back in 2008 and we were able to wander through free of charge. And were only charged if you picked any fruit.

Now, the price is $13.50 per adult and $6.00 per child, that includes the punnet of fruit that you pick. It was a shame that the price was set regardless of whether you were picking fruit or just photographing. That made it a little tricky for us as we were hoping to take some more photos for the blog. We thought it was a little expensive to pay $27 for both of us just to walk through so we waited outside.  Imagine paying for all 12 of us to go through, we would’ve ended up with a lot of fruit. But we can understand from a business perspective where they were coming from so absolutely no criticism or complaints in our eyes.

We sent in the kids more for their experience with 2 adults and away they went. The loot was everything from raspberries, cherries, loganberries to tayberries. Other than raspberries and strawberries, we have never tried any of the other types of berries on offer.

(2) Hillwood Berry Farm

Halfway into the trip, we visited Hillwood Berry Farm from Launceston. This was about a 20-minute drive north.

The approach these guys took was slightly different. They charged by the kilogram depending on how much fruit you actually picked. There was also plenty of play equipment for children to keep themselves busy while the adults went fruit picking.

We ended up with 5 punnets between us filled with strawberries and MORE raspberries. Strawberries are quite easy to spot and pick in the fields. However raspberries are so much more delicate and harder to find. Raspberries and squish quite easily between your fingers as you pick them.

The strawberries were priced at approximately $10 per kg while raspberries at approximately $20 per kg.

We have never eaten so many berries in our lives as we did in those 10 days in Tasmania. They were just so scrumptious and juicy and fresh! It certainly gave us a greater appreciation of the cost of fruit: from the work of the farmer through to the picking and packaging of the fruit. It also made us realise how fresh fruit don’t keep well so how do the supermarkets do it?!