COLUMBIA – U-pick strawberry farms across South Carolina are preparing to welcome visitors onto their farms to fill their buckets with sweet, sun-ripe, bright red strawberries.
Strawberries are among the earliest widely available spring crops in South Carolina. Many strawberry farms are already open for U-pick activities, while others plan to open in the next week or two.
As the season unfolds, other farms around the state will offer U-pick blueberries and blackberries. Other U-pick offerings include lavender, sunflowers, muscadine grapes and pumpkins.
U-pick farms are part of the state’s rapidly growing agritourism industry. Agritourism not only educates the public about farming and encourages healthy outdoor fun. It can support farmers by helping them diversify their income. The newly released Census of Agriculture shows that farm income from agritourism in South Carolina grew from $6.2 million to $14 million between 2017 and 2022.
Visit scfarmfun.org for an up-to-date listing of agritourism farms in South Carolina. Enter “u-pick” in the search field to find farms near you.
If you’d rather buy farm-fresh South Carolina strawberries without doing the picking yourself, you’re in luck! Visit certifiedsc.com to find farms in your area, or just look for the Certified SC Grown label where you shop.