|
On
family vacations my clever husband has always found a way to include berry
picking on the itinerary. Sometimes we would eat our hard-earned berries
at the farm and the rest later on a picnic. One year, this same husband was
positively brilliant and figured out a way to bring them back from Canada
to Israel. After we loaded our buckets with a few kilos worth of assorted
black and red berries, he then bought pectin, sugar and some jars. You guessed
it - back in our kitchenette, we made fruit jam and returned to Israel with
half a dozen jars of multi-hued berry jam.
These days Israelis do not need to
travel half way around the world for this particular treat.
The berry season in Israel begins
in mid-May at the Zak Family Farm on Moshav Sde Yaakov, continues
at the Landau Farm at Moshav Ben-Ami near Nahariyya, and ends
in the Golan Heights at Kibbutz El-Rom and Bustan HaGolan
in mid-September.
The brainchild of 3rd generation
moshavnik, Nadav Zak, the Zak self-picking berry farm has 7 varieties of
blackberries -- including 2 thornless varieties -- and raspberries. Berry
names are posted in the rows and you can compare tastes as you fill your
bucket.
|
|
Open in the afternoons from Sunday
thru Friday. Closed on Shabbat (Saturday) and Jewish holidays.
|
|
Location: Zak Family Farm on
Moshav Sde Yaakov, 20 minutes southeast of Haifa on Route 722.
Tel: 04-983-2539; 050-297747.
|
Moshav
Ben-Ami: At the Landau Farm on Moshav Ben-Ami the berry picking season
is from the end of May until the end of July. Pick organically-grownpitango
blackberries, raspberries, and mulberries. Landau, an expert and grower of
exotic fruits, also offers for the pick-it-youself crowd.
|
|
Open all day Friday and Saturday.
Mid-week, by advance reservation only.
|
|
|
Location: Landau Farm on Moshav
Ben-Ami west of Nahariyya on Route 89.
Tel: 050-461-981
|
Further north, berry season takes
place from mid-June through mid-September,
Kibbutz El-Rom: In addition
to the blackberries and raspberries found at Zak Farm, Kibbutz El-Rom
also offers blueberries for picking, and a winemaking
workshop.
|
|
Winemaking workshop: From mid-August,
make your own wine in a one-day session that is held daily until mid-September.
Families begin by picking grapes and then stomping on them in the old-fashioned
way. At the end of the workshop, you take home a 3-liter jug of wine, according
to Avi Gavish, program coordinator. Part of the winemaking package is a country-style
meal of labane (thick yogurt), pita and olives.
|
|
|
Reservations required for winemaking:
Avi Gavish: 050-252269
|
|
|
|
When
you need to cool down, see a short film about another El-Rom industry, the
business of subtitling films. The air conditioned theater and coffee shop
are the perfect end to a day in the fields.
|
|
|
Entrance
fee. All you can eat on premises. Produce is weighed for take-away. Open
daily from 9 AM to 5 PM.
|
|
|
Location:
Kibbutz El-Rom on Route 98 in the Golan Heights.
Tel: 06-698-1294.
|
|
Bustan HaGolan: In addition
to blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, Bustan HaGolan also offers cherries.
From August through October, pears, apricots, nectarines, peaches and apples
are part of the self-picking menu. Also on the site are picnic grounds and
a petting zoo with alpacas and llamas.
|
|
Entrance fee. All you can eat on premises.
Produce is weighed for take-away. Open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. Until 3 PM
on Friday and Saturday.
|
|
|
Location: Bustan HaGolan on Route
98 in the Golan Heights. Tel: 06-698-1294.
|
|
|
Updated contact information will be sent
