Picking fresh strawberries from a PYO (Pick Your Own) farm is one of Auckland’s most enjoyable and family-friendly activities. Not only do you get to savour fresher, healthier, and more affordable strawberries than store-bought alternatives, but you also enjoy quality time outdoors.
Over the decades, PYO farms have evolved from simple strawberry fields into vibrant destinations offering more than just strawberries. Today, many include delightful extras like ice creams, smoothies, desserts, and even adventure or gaming activities to make your visit a full day of fun.
A typical example is the Good Planet strawberry PYO farm! Its Zaberriworld has a free-fall six meters into a giant inflatable airbag, a stunt jump, a minion maze inflatable obstacle, a wipeout, a mega slide, an adrenaline tower, zorb passes, and a splash water park, to mention a few. After picking strawberries, children and adults are ultimately in for fun-filled and energy-burning activities. However, you need to buy a wristband to access Zaberriworld.
3 Best Pick-Your-Own Strawberry Farms in Auckland
#1:- Good Planet (Home of ZaberriWorld)
Good Planet is New Zealand’s largest strawberry grower and is widely regarded as a top and well-organized PYO strawberry farm in Auckland. Farm owner Mr Boman Zakeri built and organized the farm based on his dream, which he had as a young teenager. The farm is dedicated to growing plumpy, fresh, and delicious natural strawberries.
The quality of the fruit ice cream, milkshakes, and smoothies, the fun of the adventure playgrounds, including children’s inflatables, the splash water park, and other family-friendly amenities also make many families look forward to visiting Good Planet. Further, the humble and respectful nature of the farm owner, Mr Boman Zakeri, and his Staff have not gone unnoticed.
Good Planet opens daily from 9 am to 5 pm from October to April, with the last PYO entry at 4 pm. The entry fee is 5 NZD per person but free for kids under five years. This fee covers all the strawberries you can pick and eat and a free train tour around the PYO. However, you must pay for the strawberries you pick into your buckets. Buckets are sold on the farm.
You can look up the latest updates on their website regarding the berries you can pick and available per time and guidelines and instructions on what you can bring to the farm. For instance, you can bring your pets, but they are restricted to only the common areas and cannot be taken into the PYO field, cafe, and adventure parks, and there must be a lease on them at all times.
The farm is located at 340 Riverhead Road, Riverhead Auckland region. Check out more details on Google Maps to understand how you can reach there. Alternatively, you can call the farm to know the most accurate details. A free off-street car park can accommodate at least 100 vehicles if you drive in your car.
At the farm, signs show directions to the car parks, the PYO, the cafe, and the toilets. The free train tour starts at the entrance of the PYO and goes to your chosen location to pick strawberries.
After picking your berries, you can have sumptuous fresh farm lunch dishes at the cafe or buy fresh ice creams, smoothies, and drinks of different flavours. You can relax or play games at the picnic area and watch your kids play gleefully at the adventure or splash parks. However, you need to book 90 minutes of splash time. Before leaving the farm, take pictures in the strawberry heart photo area.
The farm also has other types of berries: Boysenberry, Blueberry, raspberries, and blackberries.
What Strawberry Lovers Say about Good Planet Strawberries (4.4/5 Google ratings)
- Pick only strawberries and blueberries. They are plump and delicious, while the other berries lack flavour. They have hydroponic plants if you do not want to bend to pick the berries.
- Get there early to avoid long queues and get the best and biggest strawberries.
- On sunny days, take an umbrella for cover outside the fields and a broad-rim hat in the fields.
- There are small and average toilets beside the car park.
#2:- Phil Greig Strawberry Gardens
During the summer, one of the PYO strawberry farms to visit is the Phil Greig (PG) Strawberry Gardens. The family-owned PYO farm has been in business officially since 1990, offering tasty strawberries to Auckland and other New Zealand residents. It also exports its products to other countries.
For just 6.50 NZD, you can enter the PG strawberry garden at 464 State Highway 16, Kumeu, Auckland, to pick yummy and juicy strawberries. It’s a 20-minute drive to the farm from Auckland’s central business district via State Highway 16. Since the farm is in a busy area with a high risk of accidents, it’s good to be careful around the establishment’s entrance.
The farm opens daily from 9 am to 5:30 pm through the summer months. However, it’s good to go at least two hours before closing time because they will not permit entry close to the closing period at some time. Also, they sometimes close earlier than the stipulated closing time. For 2024, the PYO starts on 26 December to February. There are lots of parking spaces, say for at least 30 cars. Further, it’s good you take a hat and sunblock for cover from the sun and a gumboot to keep your feet dry in wet areas.
The strawberries you pick are weighed and charged at 8.50 NZD per kilo. You can always come with your children, and as long as they are 10 years old and below, they enter for free, unlike in Good Planet, where children above 4 years old pay for entry. However, you have to pay for everything they pick in the bucket. You only need to hold a little cash as POS points are on-site. Buckets are also supplied.
PG also has an ice cream and smoothie shop. The shop sells real gluten-free fruit-blend ice cream, real fruit frozen Yogurt, handcrafted gelato (with various flavours), coffee, and waffles.
What Strawberry lovers say about PG strawberries (4.2/5 Google ratings)
- Very nice strawberry ice cream and smoothies
- Strawberry is very delicious (although some were small in the past season, though sweet)
- The queue could be extended, and staff could sometimes be unfriendly.
#3:- Clevedon Strawberries
You cannot take anything away from the Clevedon strawberries. The berries have great fragrances and are fresh, big, and tastier than the ones in the supermarket. Owned by Kevin and Diana Gallagher, the farm has two locations: 291 Monument Road, Clevedon (opened about 10 years ago), and 217 Alfriston-Ardmore Road (opened about 5 years ago) just a 10-minute drive apart. The latter has a bigger parking space.
Both strawberry patches are open daily from 9 am to 5 pm from October through late January for you to pick your berries and for sales of pre-packed punnets. Fresh natural ice creams in several flavours, waffles, coffee, and smoothies, which some Clevedon strawberries’ visitors rate as the best in Auckland, are also sold on both sites.
At both sites, at least 110,000 strawberry plants are grown yearly, with at least 95,000 Camarosa and at least 15,000 Albion variants.
They also have a regular stall at the Farmers’ Market at Clevedon, selling delicious strawberry waffles and ice cream, even in the off-season. Another caravan is available at the Botany Town Center yearly for sales of fruits, ice cream, coffee, and waffles. The caravan is available for birthday parties and any required function.
Clevedon has achieved great feats, including being among the 26 ice cream shops making the favourite Auckland for Kids list in 2021 and being announced among the outstanding producer finalists at the Lewisham awards this year. The entry fee is 6 NZD.
What Strawberry Lovers Say about Clevedon Strawberries (4.0/5 Google ratings)
- Friendly and welcoming staff, though the owners can be rude sometimes
- The 6 NZD entry fee is not worth it as you cannot pick and eat strawberries. The queue is also always long
- The Strawberries are big. have fantastic flavour, but pricey
- The best ice cream and waffles are lovely
Conclusion
In conclusion, Auckland’s Pick Your Own strawberry farms offer a great experience for people of any age. By visiting these farms, you can keep a connection with local farming communities and enjoy the joy of plucking fruits and having them at the same time. This is worth it for those with kids as they love plucking and eating berries. You can capture these moments using your camera and frame it as a lifetime memory.
If you are an international traveller, visiting these farms not only gives you fresh produce but also gives you an idea of how NZ farms operate.
So why don’t you plan your next day out to one of these PYO strawberry farms in Auckland? By providing your support to these local farms, you’re not only getting the best NZ strawberries but also contributing to the sustainability of Auckland’s farming heritage.
Last modified: December 2, 2024
