3 weeks ago
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It’s a rite of passage in winter – picking strawberries. And with most pick-your-own spots about an hour from Brisbane’s CBD, a trip to the farm is an easy day out.
With some strawberry farms welcoming loads of visitors this season, the question is – why don’t they all offer this immersive experience?
Adrian Lynch from Wellington Point Farm said he offered a pick-your-own strawberry experience “just once” in the past 15 to 20 years but vowed “never again”.
“People were turning up … when you’re trying to get home, people wandering off into the cow paddock and machinery sheds – it was just a logistical nightmare,” he said.
While Wellington Point Farm doesn’t offer pick-your-own, visitors can still enjoy fresh strawberries while looking out at the crops.Credit: Wellington Point Farm Market Hall Facebook
Lynch also said the process of securing public liability insurance was tedious and expensive.
“Insurance has killed the fun in everything. I can let the five-year-old grandkid go down the paddock, pick a berry, and if grandma goes and takes a photo and breaks her hip, who’s paying?”
While Wellington Point Farm now keeps customers and crops apart, visitors can still enjoy seeing where their food comes from in the adjoining cafe.
Brisbane food and lifestyle content creator Shoggy has been strawberry picking for 20 years. This year a video of his experience amassed more than 244,000 views across Instagram and TikTok.
Shoggy’s favourite spot is the Rolin Strawberry Farm in Elimbah, about 50 minutes north of Brisbane.
“Things have really changed since 10, 20 years ago. Back in the day, it was free to pick and eat at the site, and you just paid for what you put in your basket. I think now so many people have started going there, they [farmers] need to protect their strawberries,” he said.
Rolin charges $16 for adults, which includes 500 grams of pick-your-own strawberries, and $8 for kids, who can collect a 250-gram punnet – but only on the weekends.
While considerably more expensive than a supermarket punnet, Shoggy says the experience makes it worth the extra cost and effort.
“It was the sweetest strawberry I ever had in Brisbane – the fresh strawberry from the farm was a completely different strawberry [to those in supermarkets].”
Shoggy wasn’t sure drawing the attention of his hundreds of thousands of followers to the small strawberry farm would be entirely welcome.
A strawberry at Rolin Farm, which allows the public to pick their own on weekends. Credit: Shoggy the Foodie
“Some people don’t like that place to be busy, but people always struggle to find things to do in Brisbane in winter,” he said.
For Lillian McMartin from McMartins Farm in Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast, the pick-your-own strawberries arrangement has been largely positive.
Unlike Rolin, McMartins doesn’t charge entry for strawberry picking and sells fresh strawberries for $18 a kilo. After 40 years of strawberry farming, McMartins has shifted to solely pick-your-own in the past five years.
“We find we don’t have to worry about finding reliable workers, and we also don’t have to fight with chain stores over prices,” McMartin said.
So, where are the best places for a pick-your-own strawberries experience near Brisbane?
- McMartins Farm, Bli Bli, open Wednesday to Sunday, 9am-4pm (1 hour, 20 minutes from Brisbane)
- Rolin Strawberry Farm, Elimbah, open weekends, check their Facebook page for updates (50 minutes from Brisbane)
- Chambers Flat Strawberry Farm, open weekends 9am-4pm (40 minutes from Brisbane)
- Wamuran Pick Your Own Farm, open weekends 8am-4pm (1 hour, 10 minutes from Brisbane)
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