Strawberry Picking Fun in Western Wisconsin
By Angie
June 28, 2023
Angie and Jeff and our bucket of fresh picked strawberries at sunrise.
One way that Jeff and I try to embrace thrifty living during our times we are at home and not traveling is by maximizing the fun and free or inexpensive experiences near our home. Essentially, we like to act like we’re traveling!
It’s summer in Wisconsin. If you’re not from Wisconsin, you may not realize how special this time is. Summers always feel too short to me in comparison to the long cold slog of winter in Wisconsin, particularly the portion that seems to drag on from February into even early May sometimes. One of my favorite Wisconsin summer activities is strawberry picking. If you haven’t had a fresh picked strawberry, dirt brushed off with your hand, in the field while picking them, you haven’t fully lived.
Strawberry field at sunrise.
Strawberries in field at Mcilquham Berries.
Fresh Picked Mcilquham Strawberries
This week we picked a random Tuesday to voluntarily get up at 5 a.m. to be at Mcilquham Strawberries when they opened for picking at 6 a.m. and be back for the start of the work day with a delicious treat to enjoy throughout the week. Strawberry season in Wisconsin is short and depends on a lot of variables in the weather, so you have to prioritize this experience quickly when the fields open.
Mcilquham Orchard and Berries Sign.
Many people will pick A LOT of strawberries to make jams and pies and to freeze to remember Wisconsin summer in January. We prefer to eat our strawberries fresh so only picked one bucket. We also delivered some of our treasures to Jeff’s parents and grandma who live in our same town.
Our strawberry bucket in the field.
A Bucket of Strawberries in Less Than 30 Minutes
We had our one bucket full in about 30 minutes, and more than a few were taste tested during the picking. That bucket cost us $11 and when weighed at home was just under 7 pounds of delicious berries! This is our idea of eating locally, supporting a local small business, and thrifty living all wrapped up in one full outing. These strawberries are far more delicious than anything we find in a grocery store and a deal to boot!
Full bucket of berries.
If you live in Wisconsin, hurry up, as you have a few days, maybe a week, left of strawberry season to pick your own treats. We have raspberry picking followed by blueberry picking in July to look forward to and the bittersweet experience of apple picking, sweet because fresh local honey crisp apples are so good, and bitter because we know another tough Wisconsin winter is up next. If you don’t live in Wisconsin, how can you maximize your local experiences to live like you’re traveling and live thrifty? In our case, our breakfasts and desserts just got a whole lot sweeter this week!
