Pick Your Own.nz

When is blueberry picking season in New Zealand?

Blueberries run from about December to March, which makes them the longest pick-your-own season in the country. They are also the most widely grown self-pick crop here: more farms in this directory offer blueberries than any other single crop, spread across the Waikato, the Bay of Plenty, the Wellington region and Canterbury.

Why the season runs so long

Because it is not one crop. Growers plant early, mid and late varieties deliberately, so that a single orchard picks continuously for three months rather than three weeks. Northern highbush varieties come in first, from December; rabbiteye varieties carry the tail of the season through February and into March.

That is good news for a visitor. Unlike cherries, where a wet week can take out most of the season, a blueberry orchard that is closed today will very likely be open next weekend.

Roughly when, by region

Each listing on this site carries the dates that farm itself last published, and the date we checked them.

How to pick blueberries

Roll, do not pull. A ripe blueberry comes away from the cluster with the lightest touch of a thumb; if you have to tug, it is not ready. Pulling takes the little stem plug with it, and a berry picked that way rots first.

Colour is not the whole story. A berry can be fully blue and still be a few days short: look for the dusty pale bloom on the skin and a slight give when it rolls. The greenish ring around the stem end means it needs more time.

Do not wash them until you are ready to eat them. That bloom is a natural waxy coat and it is what keeps a blueberry fresh in the fridge for a week or more. Wash the lot on the way home and you have three days at best.

Freezing

Blueberries freeze better than any other crop on this site, which is the real argument for over-picking. Spread them on a tray in a single layer, freeze them hard, then bag them: done that way they stay separate rather than setting into one block, and they go straight from freezer to pan or bowl without thawing. Do not wash first.

Before you go

Most blueberry farms let you turn up, and some open only on particular days of the week. Check the farm’s own page or Facebook the morning you travel, especially in the first weeks of December and the last of March, when the crop is opening or finishing.

See every blueberry farm we list, find one near you on the map, or check what else is ready this month.

Updated 27 August 2026

More from the magazine

After fruit you picked yourself? Find a farm in the pick-your-own directory, check what is ready in the crop calendar, or see what is near you on the map.