Southern Hill Farms
Southern Hill Farms has become a family tradition for both the spring (blueberry picking) and the fall festival. We used to go pick blueberries in February, but now we go the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend (It’s just easier with the boys’ soccer schedule to go later).
We love the whole vibe of the farm and they’ve done a great job of managing the large volumes of people. There are always lots of options for lunch or dinner, including snacks and adult beverages.
Sometimes they require admission to get onto the farm, but then the activities for the kids are free. Other times, we only pay for what we pick/cut and for activity bands (usually $20 each) to do the rides and kid attractions.
We always grab some blueberry lemonade and donuts (in the fall they serve apple cider ones). They do have souvenir cups and a reduced refill price (including for alcoholic ones).
The farm grows 5 different varieties of blueberries, which allows them to open their farm for picking for an extended season. There are plenty of options for taking a break in the shade.
Spring 2021
Fall 2021
Spring 2022
Fall 2023
Fall Festival Shirts
Spring 2024
This year, we went to the farm the day before Mother’s Day. We figured it would be less busy and we were right. It was hot, but there were plenty of refreshments. The boys wanted to start off with the donuts. During the fall festival they have apple cider donuts. This time, they had blueberry donuts. There were mixed reviews on which flavor is better. In the end, we all agreed they’re both good! At the donut stand, we also got two iced drinks in our souvenir cups we brought back from last time. Jacob got a strawberry limeade and Jonah got a blueberry lemonade. They ended up switching flavors, but the iced drinks were perfect for taking out into the fields.
This time, we went into the fields knowing which two varieties we wanted to pick. In the car ride there, we read the descriptions of each on their website and decided on the emerald and farthing varieties. This meant we were looking for fields 2, 4, 6 or 7. We ended up picking from fields 6 and 7. I think we enjoyed seeing all of the polinators more than picking the berries. Although, we had a contest to see who could find the biggest blueberry and for a while there was a consistent chorus of, “Oooo! Look at this one.”
When we were done picking blueberries, we decided to grab lunch from the food trucks. The boys picked a hamburger and chicken nuggets. Brandon and I ordered the Blueberry gouda grilled cheese and an avocado bacon grilled cheese. We both had half of each and the kids ended up eating the chips. We also hit the beer stand and got a blueberry mimosa and a blueberry smash. We both liked the blueberry smash better.
There was live music most of the time we were there, which we could hear the entire time we were there: in the blueberry fields, eating lunch, and playing in the kid zone.
After lunch, we got the boys activity bands and let them play in the kid zone while we finished our drinks. They love the blowups and the rides. They always spend a lot of time giggling and bouncing on the blobs. We like that they divide the area into two different sections for smaller and bigger kids. It lets everyone have more fun without having to be too concerned about the big kids being too rough with the little ones.
After they played a couple of hours, they got shaved ice to cool down and shopped the store for a little bit. Jacob and I got SHF shirts and Brandon found a pair of Goodr sunglasses. Jonah got a fuzzy eye mask that he continues to sleep with at night and wear as a headband around the house during the day.
Overall, it was a fantastic day and we all went home with wonderful memories.