Add ‘PYO’ to popular travel terminology as pandemic continues
By Tom Adkinson
(Editor’s note: This is one in a series of travel stories spotlighting destinations logical to visit as Americans venture out in a time of coronavirus and perhaps to inspire similarly safe outings elsewhere.)
Blackberry picker; image by Tom Adkinson. |
PORTLAND, Tennessee – The blackberries are ripening and the blueberry bushes are as tall at an NBA center at Bottom View Farm in this farming community north of Nashville, where you can pick berries in easy-to-walk acres and even try to catch a catfish in a two-acre pond. Bottom View Farm is one of hundreds – if not thousands – of pandemic-friendly farm destinations across the U.S. It’s easy to socially distance yourself while berry picking.
Ripening blackberries; image by Tom Adkinson. |
An extensive resource for finding a PYO farm – that’s “pick your own” in agritourism talk – is PickYourOwn.org, which covers the entire U.S. and almost two dozen other countries. That will be useful when international travel returns. Current listings stretch from the raspberry patches of Silveridge Farm in Bucksport, Maine, to the hop fields of Golden Hop Farm (popular with home brewers) in Fallbrook, California, near San Diego. In addition to destination and current crop information, the website has resources about canning, freezing and baking with the fruit you pick – assuming you don’t eat all the fruit and berries you pick before getting home.
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