Eckert’s pick-your-own season starts April 24: Strawberry festivities, charitable ‘Sip, Shop, & Support Series’

 

Eckert’s Farm, the family farm and country store in Belleville, IL (951 S. Green Mount Rd., Belleville, IL 62220), announces the return of Pick-Your-Own Strawberries starting this Wednesday, April 24 with field access reservations available now online.

Guests can head out to Eckert’s strawberry fields to pick the fresh fruit daily, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., for $4.49 per pound plus field access passes starting at $3 per person on weekdays and $6 on weekends when purchased online.

Additionally, the farm’s highly anticipated Strawberry Festival returns Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, and runs every Saturday and Sunday in May including Memorial Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The festival offers an all-American carnival with fun on the farm for the whole family. Enjoy tractor rides out to the pick-your-own strawberry fields, festival foods, carnival rides, a wagon ride, a petting zoo, and more through Memorial Day. This will be an unticketed event, but fees will be charged for some activities.

Eckert’s announces its first-ever Sip, Shop, & Support Series this Pick-Your-Own Season by donating a portion of sales to a different charity per produce. Eckert’s will have “round up” donation jars, donate $1 of each season’s highlighted hard cider sold, and 10% of Pick-Your-Own sales on a designated Friday to the featured charitable organization.

“We are thrilled to kick off this year’s Pick-Your-Own Season with our homegrown strawberries and the Sip, Shop, & Support Series! Each year, we strive to make Eckert’s a more enjoyable visit for our guests and also find ways to give back to our community,” says President Chris Eckert. “This series allows us to get the community involved while donating to foundations that are meaningful to the farm and our guests. We hope to make a difference for each charity by the end of the 2024 season.”

See below for each Pick-Your-Own Season’s designated charity for the Sip, Shop, & Support Series:

• Pick-Your-Own Strawberries: Eckert’s will give back to the National Alliance on Mental Illness – St. Louis (NAMI) in honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month. The farm will have change jars out at all registers for “round up” donations and donate $1 from every pint of Strawberry Hard Cider sold in the Cider Shed from May 1-31 and will donate 10% of Pick-Your-Own Strawberry sales on Friday, May 17.
• Pick-Your-Own Blackberries: Eckert’s will give back to The Air Force Wounded Warrior Program during Pick-Your-Own Blackberry season to support wounded veterans in need. The farm will have change jars out at all registers for “round up” donations and donate $1 from every pint of Blackberry Hard Cider sold in the Cider Shed from June 1-30 and will donate 10% of Pick-Your-Own Blackberry sales on Friday, June 21.
• Pick-Your-Own Peaches: Eckert’s will give back to The Belleville District #118 Foundation during Pick-Your-Own Peach season to support the local school district’s needs. The farm will have change jars out at all registers for “round up” donations and donate $1 from every pint of Peach Hard Cider sold in the Cider Shed from July 1-31 and will donate 10% of Pick-Your-Own Blackberry sales on Friday, July 19.
• Pick-Your-Own Apples: Eckert’s will give back to VarietySTL during Pick-Your-Own Apple season to provide children with special needs access to medical equipment, therapy, and innovative programs. The farm will have change jars out at all registers for “round up” donations and donate $1 from every pint of Apple Hard Cider sold in the Cider Shed from Sept. 1-30 and will donate 10% of Pick-Your-Own Apple sales on Friday, Sept. 20.

For more information about Eckert’s or the Pick-Your-Own seasons’ events, visit www.eckerts.com or follow Eckert’s on Instagram and Facebook.

Photos courtesy Eckert’s.

About Eckert’s

Eckert’s Inc. is the largest family-owned and operated pick-your-own orchard in the United States. Originally established as a farm and simple roadside stand in Illinois, the Eckert family now owns and operates farming, entertainment, and retail entities in Belleville, Grafton and Millstadt, Ill., as well as most recently, Versailles, Ky. For a century, Eckert’s has been a local source for agricultural products including asparagus, beets, zucchini, kale, squash, onions and peppers, strawberries, blackberries, peaches, apples and pumpkins, and more. Guests of Eckert’s farms get to experience the farming practices firsthand with the farms’ pick-your-own produce experiences during growing seasons. Today, Eckert’s offers year-round programming for all at their farms and Country Store. For more information, visit www.eckerts.com  Follow on social media @eckertfarms on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Pinterest.