Bradley N.
Yelp
There are three ways to experience Blue House Farm's stellar selection of organic and heirloom strawberries, vegetables, and fruits, all grown on the San Mateo coast by a small but dedicated crew of committed growers. You can sign up for a weekly CSA shipment, which you can pick up from a range of Bay Area locations. You can also find their products at weekend Farmers' Markets, such as the Saturday market at the College of San Mateo.
Or, you can visit the self-serve farm stand and u-pick strawberry fields, which are located in the tiny town of San Gregorio, near the intersection of Highway 1 and CA-84 (La Honda Road). It's open in season starting each spring in May on weekends from 11am-6pm. It's a pretty scenic spot, definitely a working farm but with lots of attractive, rustic touches. The farm stand itself is a quaint, blue-colored structure that contains vegetables and fruits for sale, including scales, plastic bags, a cash box, and a notebook for entering your purchases. Most items cost $5 or less, and they include whatever is in season. Kohlrabi. Beets. Carrots. Lettuce. Kale. Chard. Strawberries. Spinach. Once summer starts, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, and other products enter the mix, and in fall there are pumpkins, squash, beans, and more.
The farm stand makes a great stop as part of a day trip to the San Mateo coast between Half Moon Bay to the North and Pescadero to the South. The U-Pick fields here are smaller than at Swanton Berry Farm, and there aren't desserts, jams, coffee, preserves, or other items for sale. The setup is also smaller than at Pie Ranch, near Ano Neuvo State Park, but there are picnic tables, a restroom, and plenty of parking, so you can include a rest stop here before continuing your way.
On a recent visit over the Mother Day's weekend, we picked up a few pounds of kohlrabi to include in a parsnip, fennel, and miso soup, a few heads of fresh lettuce, and a bunch of crunchy carrots. Usually, we shop the Blue House stall at the San Mateo farmers' market, and we were CSA members for several years when Blue House was in its former location in Pescadero. The farm stand allows people unfamiliar with Blue House Farm to try a few things, pick some berries, and spend $10 or less for their goodies. Especially in springtime, the surrounding hills are gorgeous, and the beaches along the coast beckon. Consider stopping here the next time you're passing through the area!