After traveling down the path known as the Corry Junction Greenway Trail, we looked for an opportunity to get outdoors but also knew there would be a few days of rain coming. For that reason, we knew this was the perfect season to go gather some Pickles at Mason Farms.

This is certainly not a *new* destination, as we previously have been to Mason Farms for both strawberry picking, as well as raspberry picking. However, as the seasons change, so does the type of fruits or vegetables that are available.

Location

If you haven’t been here yet, now is another great opportunity! Mason Farms Country Market is located on 8603 W Lake Rd, Lake City, PA 16423. It is located on Route 5, and while the stand is open at the front of the property with a small parking lot, if you are trying to go pick pickles (cucumber pickles that is), you need to drive the dirt road back into the field. It’s a simple road that is a straight shot back, and in addition to pickles there are other items still in season.

Property Description:

In addition to cucumber pickles, at this point Mason Farms still has raspberries, as well as Blueberries to be picked. There are other items getting ready to come into season, however, so by the time you read this there could be other fresh fruits or veggies to be had.

Things to do:

This was a very simple day compared to the other times we have been picking items at Mason Farms. Compare the size of a strawberry or a raspberry to a cucumber, and you can imagine why. We filled up a basket which gave us probably around 4 or 5 dozen pickles. They vary in size, but the average one was about 4 inches long, and 2 inches in diameter. Filling up a basket of pickles literally only took about 10 minutes.

One point of note: While we only picked a single basket of pickles, there were other patrons there who picked multiple baskets and of multiple fruits and veggies.

Who Can Go:

This activity was actually one of the easiest we had done. Compared to the size and fragility of raspberries (not to mention the prickers on the vines), picking cucumber pickles is a very easy thing to do. The cucumbers are much more stable for young hands than a raspberry (so less “destroyed” produce at the hands of our toddler). In addition, the size of the cucumbers means it’s a lot easier to spot one compared to trying to find berries behind leaves.

Final Thoughts:

Because this was such a short activity, we actually used many of the cucumber pickles themselves to jar pickles. This is another activity that can be done off of the cucumbers, and with a few more items that can be grabbed from the farm stand at the front of the property (for example. We grabbed peas, cauliflower, and peppers). You will of course need the other supplies such as vinegar and the mason jars, but this was an additional activity we were able to do in order to preserve the vegetables over the coming weeks and months. After all, while fresh food is a healthy part of any diet, it may be hard to eat 60 cucumbers in a week or two before they start to rot. For that reason, both the experience of picking the cucumber pickles, as well as the process of preserving them in jars, is a set of fun activities that the whole family can participate in.  

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