The stresses of work combined with our current social climate really began to wear on us; after being confined to our home for weeks we needed fresh air…and an adventure. Strawberry picking seemed to be the perfect socially-distanced activity.

Wegmeyer Farms, only an hour drive from Montclair, offers time slots you can reserve to pick berries from a designated row…all for you. I’m not sure if it’s always this busy but our first couple attempts at reserving a slot were sold out in minutes and we had to try multiple times. You have to be vigilant about rsvp’ing as soon as they open the times to even make reservations. It’s $24 to reserve your row for an hour of picking and that comes with a bucket. You have the option to purchase extra buckets for an additional $24 each. The hard part isn’t filling up your basket, its convincing yourself that you don’t need another to fill! 

I noticed there were bigger and juicier berries mid-row so while Parker and Brian focused on the beginning of the row, Lincoln and I walked ahead to scope the scene. Now, the rows are not big enough for a stroller so if you have an arm-baby like we do, I suggest bringing a carrier. As Lincoln and I passed big bright red clusters, I would pick them and leave them in between the plants for Parker to find. No worries, he still had plenty to pick on his own. I wish we would have planned to have a picnic afterward but eating fresh picked strawberries in the back of the Jeep was also a nice way to wrap up our adventure.

Sometimes you have to unplug to reconnect with yourself, your partner and your children. It was a much needed adventure and I’m still smiling.