U-Pick Farms near Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz Permaculture farms 26 regenerative organic acres on the Pacific coast 20 minutes north of Santa Cruz — land farmed organically for over 100 years and famous from 1995-2020 as Swanton Berry Farm's strawberry, olallieberry, and kiwi U-Pick. Over 80 crops span five acres of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, two acres of blackberries, and a third-acre of kiwis, sold through U-Pick, farm stand, farmers markets, CSA, and wholesale — all alongside permaculture courses with over 1,000 alumni and ocean views near Año Nuevo.

Watsonville

Clearview Orchards grows CCOF-certified organic apples on terraced hillsides overlooking the Watsonville valley, three miles from the ocean. Families come in fall for u-pick apples — Fuji, EverCrisp, and Mutsu among them — or shop the Apple Barn for organic fruit, fresh apple juice, apple turnovers, organic squash, pumpkins, dried lavender, and honey, weekends during the season.

Morgan Hill

Ranch Five is a u-pick orchard on Monterey Road in Morgan Hill worked by West Coast Farms, part of the same cluster of family-run u-pick ranches that dot the Gilroy-Morgan Hill stone fruit corridor.

Morgan Hill

Ranch One sits on Monterey Road in Morgan Hill and is farmed by Borugi Farms, one of the family orchards that make up the area's u-pick network in the Santa Clara Valley's old stone fruit belt.

Blue House Farm runs a u-pick strawberry patch and farmstand in San Gregorio, on the San Mateo County coast, open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The farm also grows organic heirloom dry beans and flowers, sold at the stand and online. Email the farm directly to ask about picking conditions before the drive out.

Gilroy

Gilroy U-Pick operates off Korn Lane in the Santa Clara Valley farmland south of town — country better known nationally for garlic but also thick with berry and stone-fruit growers who open fields to pickers in summer. No confirmed current crop list or hours turned up online this session; call ahead for what's ripe.

Gilroy

Gilroy Upick is a no-spray pick-your-own orchard on Korn Lane in Gilroy, California, known for pluerries, plums, and pluots sold by the pound alongside seasonal cherries, berries, and vegetables. Weekend picking runs in two blocks, late morning and mid-afternoon; weekdays are by appointment only. There's no on-site restroom, and overflow parking sits across the street on Korn Lane.

Gilroy

Ranch Four is one of several independently farmed u-pick orchards clustered around Gilroy and Morgan Hill, an area long known for stone fruit and berries. This site is worked by Borello Farms under the 101 Ranch name on Castro Valley Road.