Rainy season ideas: ⑧ blueberry picking

Blueberry season usually coincides with the rainy season. It does depend on the region, but on average blueberries are ripe for the picking from around mid June. In some places it will be earlier, in others, later. My local blueberry farm has already started its blueberry picking season, but I was in a neighboring town yesterday and there blueberries aren't quite ready yet. A photo of the blueberries in town in the photo below. As you can see, they are not 'blue' yet!

We have been blueberry picking later in summer, because that's when my kids are on summer holidays. One of the times we went, it was so hot and uncomfortable that we only picked for 10 minutes, even though we'd paid for 40 minutes. Unlike strawberries that are grown in greenhouses, blueberries are usually outside. And more often than not you aren't allowed use sun umbrellas. So rainy season is actually a better time for picking, because its not quite as hot and humid as the second half of summer. 

Blueberry picking costs and the system for picking varies greatly by farm. Generally, you pay an entry into the farm as well as a price per grams of blueberries you pick. I find blueberries are quite expensive in the supermarkets in Japan, so the cost doesn't work out that much more to pick your own. And of course, its a much better experience to pick them yourself than buy them in the store!

Have you ever been blueberry picking in Japan?