The 2026 BC U-Pick Calendar: When Every Berry, Stone Fruit, and Apple Comes In

If you've ever shown up to a u-pick on the perfect summer Saturday only to find a sun-bleached 'closed for the season' sign, you know the cost of bad timing. BC's u-pick season is six months long, but each fruit has a two- or three-week window, and weather pushes it around by ten days year to year. Here's how the 2026 season is shaping up across the four main growing regions: Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan, and the Kootenays. Call ahead the week you plan to go — every farm posts ripeness updates on Instagram, and we link to those on each farm's listing page. May: Strawberries kick off the season Strawberries usually open in mid-May in the warmer parts of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, Chilliwack) and the South Okanagan. Vancouver Island is a week or two behind. Look for 'everbearing' varieties if you want a long picking window — those keep producing into July. The classic 'June-bearing' types give you bigger, sweeter fruit but they're done in three weeks. Fraser Valley standouts include Krause Berry Farms, Aldor Acres, and Driediger Farms. On the Island, head for the Cowichan Valley patches around Duncan and Cobble Hill. June: Raspberries and peak strawberry weeks Raspberries start ripening in early June in the Fraser Valley and run through mid-July. This is the busiest u-pick month — strawberries peak the first week of June and raspberries take over the second half. If you have a freezer plan, June is when to execute it. A flat (10 lbs) of raspberries you've picked yourself runs about $35–$50 versus $80+ for the same volume at a grocer. July: Blueberries everywhere, cherries in the Okanagan Blueberries are BC's biggest u-pick crop — Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and Richmond have the largest patches. The season runs early July through late August. Cherries are an Okanagan-only affair. Sweet cherries (Lapins, Bings) ripen mid-June to mid-July depending on elevation; sour cherries (Montmorency, mostly for pies) follow in late July. The Naramata Bench and West Kelowna are the hot spots. August: Stone fruit takes over Peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines come into Okanagan farms August through early September. Apricots are the earliest and shortest window (usually just three weeks in late July to mid-August). Peaches are the workhorse — most farms have u-pick from August 1 through Labour Day weekend. Keremeos and Cawston, just west of Penticton, are unofficially Canada's stone-fruit capital. Highway 3 in August is fruit-stand after fruit-stand, with u-pick orchards in between. September: Apples and the first squash Apple u-pick kicks off in early September with Galas and Honeycrisps, then McIntosh and Ambrosia roll in mid-month, and the storage varieties (Pink Lady, Granny Smith) close out the season in late October. Squash and pumpkin patches open mid-September — most agritourism farms run them as combined apple-and-pumpkin weekends through October. October: Pumpkins and corn mazes October is corn-maze and pumpkin-patch season. The big draws are Krause Berry Farms (Langley), Aldor Acres (Langley), Maan Farms (Abbotsford), and Granny's Pumpkin Patch (Maple Ridge). Most have hay rides, petting zoos, and weekend snacks. Book ahead for weekend slots — they fill up by Wednesday. What to bring • Sun hat and water (most fields are open and hot) • Closed-toe shoes (rows can be muddy after rain) • Cash for the smaller farms — many take card but tap-only with sketchy reception • A cooler in the car if you're picking more than 5 lbs • A bucket or hard-sided container — soft fruit crushes in plastic bags A note on prices U-pick is usually 30–50% cheaper per pound than the grocery store equivalent, but only if you actually pick a few pounds. Most farms have a 1- or 2-pound minimum and charge an entry fee of $2–$5 per person on weekends. Bring a friend and pick 10 pounds and the math works out very well. Bookmark this page — we update it through the season as farms confirm their opening weekends.