Make Berry Picking a Summer Tradition

For some locals, picking blackberries at the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm is as much a summer tradition as fireworks, vacation days and flip-flops.

Lucky, Paula and Bill Jacobs invite you to enjoy a unique summer experience at the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm.

Imagine this scene: birds are singing, bobwhite quail are whistling, and the neatly mown grass leads to row after row of blackberry bushes awaiting harvest in the morning sun. It sounds like something from a grandparent’s story or a movie from days gone by. However, this wholesome scenario is real and waiting for you and your family at the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm, just 10 minutes from Tulsa off Highway 169.  

For some locals, picking blackberries at the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm is as much a summer tradition as fireworks, vacation days and flip-flops. It just wouldn’t be summer without fat, juicy blackberries fresh off the vine. Sisters Linda Sullivan and Kathy Robertson of Owasso grew up on an Oklahoma farm and spent a lot of time gardening and canning with their mother. Picking berries in the neatly mown patch at the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm is a now a pleasant reminder of those childhood days.

Bill and Paula Jacobs own the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm and have arranged it to allow families to explore the property, share a lunch at the shady picnic tables, and take lots of pictures to capture the memories being made. Whether you visit during the holidays to pick the perfect Christmas tree, or in the heat of summer when the berries are ripe, you are sure to have a great experience.

Blackberry season is in full swing and the Jacobs estimate they will have berries throughout the month. Since blackberries do not ripen any further once they are off the vine, and because they are too perishable to transport, the only places to find them are local produce stands or at pick-it-yourself farms like the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm.

­Blackberries are perfect for jams and jellies, pies and ­cobbler, or to top off ice cream and cereal.

This year, the Owasso Tree and Berry farm is offering three delicious varieties of blackberries: Ouachita, Chickasaw and Kiowa. Great for jams and jellies, pies and cobblers or to top off ice cream and cereal, fresh blackberries are a taste of sweet summer itself.

Picking at the farm doesn’t include trekking out through an overgrown field to get to the berries, either. The Owasso Tree and Berry Farm fields are closely mown and the canes pruned to keep snakes, chiggers, ticks and other pests away. They furnish the pails for picking and juice-absorbent containers to transport the blackberries back to your kitchen, if they make it that far without being eaten. Paula recommends that you bring a glove for your non-picking hand, which you use to part and move the prickly canes as you look for berries.

Come spend some time with your family, bring a sack lunch and relax as you start a new tradition at the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm. Hours for berry picking are (weather permitting) Tuesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to noon and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Prices for you-pick berries are $3 a pound and for pre-picked, $4 a pound when available. There is no charge for the happy memories and sweet sounds of nature.

For more information, contact

Owasso Tree and Berry Farm

(918) 272-9445

www.owassochristmastreefarm.com