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Orchard Notes

Posted on by Mike Waugh

Orchard Notes

Orchard notes – April 19, 2026
All signs point to our pick-your-own season to open in mid-May 2026. In 2025, we opened on May 17 and we should be able to open at least that early, if not a week or two earlier.
Our rabbiteye blueberries are loaded with green berries at the moment, and look to be much more heavily set than this time last year. It’s even possible that our first open days in May will be just for blueberry picking. In particular, the newer blueberry block is looking great, growing twice as fast as our first-planted blueberries. This is a positive development because last year our blueberries were hard to come by.
As for the blackberries, it appears the Osage and Kiowa will be the first to ripen because they’ve been setting blooms for the past few weeks. Behind them are the Arapaho, Ponca and Ouachita. The main difference from last year is that the Ponca set fruit earlier last year but this year it’s lagging behind. We think that’s more in line with their expected season. We find that newly planted blackberries can be precocious and bear earlier and heavier, but that they settle into their normal behavior in subsequent seasons. We think that means we will have a more steady but longer season for blackberries this year.
Peaches seem to be bust again this year. We won’t be able to open just for peach picking, but if you find a ripe peach during berry picking sessions, you may pick and pay the same price as the berries. We’ve yet to crack the code on peaches, and frankly they are a bit of an experiment. We planted some new peach trees this year, but it will be a few years before they bear fruit.
Plums are also a bit of an experiment. We haven’t seen too many blooms yet this year, but the trees seem fine. We’ll keep an eye out for developments.
The figs are mostly looking good, even though depending on the variety some look like they had a rough winter while others took it like a champ.  In the past, when we’ve opened for fig picking, it was in late August through October, so we’ll need to give them some time. In 2025, we did not open for fig season at all because of the previous winter’s damage.
We’ve been working hard over the off-season at improving the farm. We’ve planted about an acre of Pink Lemonade blueberry plants. They are tiny twigs in the ground right now, but hopefully in about 2-3 years they’ll start producing pink blueberries. We have two rows of mature Pink Lemonades that are really popular and get picked out quickly, so we decided to plant more of them.
We’ve also been cleaning up our weedy rows and experimenting with different types of mulching arrangements. We’re filling gaps with flowers of all sorts. We’re hoping that visitors will find not only a great fruit farm, but that the whole place feels like a big welcoming garden. We hope you come to visit us this year!

Ripe blackberries on trellis

Ponca blackberries ripening at our farm in 2025.

 

Hours and Pricing

Posted on by Mike Waugh

Open Days and Hours

 
                                                                                       

For 2026, we will open for the season on Saturday, May 26. Our season lasts for about 5-6 weeks.

Our open days and hours are variable, according to the season, the weather, and how much ripe fruit there is to pick. 

 

 

 

We will post our open days and hours at least a day in advance. We will close early if we run out of fruit. We close if there is bad weather or lightning in the area. Always check this page or our Facebook page before heading over because we sometimes make last minute announcements. 

In order to provide the best experience, we sometimes require reservations before your visit. The number of open reservations is based upon the amount of fruit available to pick. If reservations are not specifically mentioned in our post or website, then it’s first-come, first-serve.

 

 

Our season peaks from Memorial Day to  early June, with the most fruit being available then. 

Pick-your-own Pricing

New for 2026!

In order to speed up the check-out process and improve consistency, we are switching to selling by weight rather than volume.

Blackberries and blueberries: 

  • $8 a pound

Generally one of our one gallon picking buckets can hold 5-6 pounds of picked fruit.

We’ll provide picking buckets and bags with handles. You only pay for what you pick (no entry fee). You can bring your own bags and containers to bring the fruit home as well. Refrigerate or freeze them as soon as possible.

We occasionally offer bottled water and assorted drinks for sale, because it’s summer in south Louisiana and we’re all outside.

Waughsome Farm Golden Bucket

We offer a Waughsome Farm branded “Golden Bucket” for $40 that you can bring home.

Any fruit picked into the one-gallon golden bucket will be 50% off for the current season, and 10% off for later seasons. Limit one golden bucket per person. Discount limited to 1 gallon of fruit per visit, which is conveniently the size of the bucket. You must have the bucket with you to receive the discount.

If you purchase a golden bucket on the way in for your first visit, you break even after the second visit, and get a great discount after that. It’s a great deal for repeat customers!

You don’t need a golden bucket to pick. Most customers will use a regular white bucket (one gallon size or quart size) and transfer the fruit to take home containers.

Fruit

  • Blueberries: we will have a variety of rabbiteye blueberries available for picking from mid-May to the end of June.
  • Blackberries: we will have a variety of thornless blackberries available for picking from mid-May to the end of June. Thornless varieties include Arapaho, Caddo, Osage, Ouachita, and Ponca. We have one thorned variety called Kiowa – it’s delicious enough to be worth the thorns! We have some new varieties planted that will start fruiting in 2027.
  • Peaches: we will not have any peach picking sessions for 2026, but if you find some ripe peaches while we’re open for berry picking, you can throw them in your bucket and pay the same price as for the berries.
  • Plums: we have some scattered random plum trees that have a small amount of fruit. Same deal as with peaches, if you find some ripe plums, you can throw them in your bucket and pay the same as for the berries
  • Figs: we have several fig varieties, which were variably impacted by cold weather in the winter of 2026. If and when we have figs available, it is in late summer and early autumn. Our fig varieties make dark colored fruit, such as LSU Purple, Brown Turkey, Black Mission, Violet de Bourdeaux, Celeste and Magnolia. 

Honey

We will have honey for sale on our open days, harvested from our hives located on the farm. Our supply is limited, so we will not be stocking our self-serve honey box in spring of 2026, but we’re hoping to harvest more in summer.